06/14/2023 some rearrangements

I moved several pots of flowering plants to where they can drop seeds and also keep the dog from trampling the Baptisia australis in her borkenings at the neighbor dogs. I also moved pavers to try a new human path.
I planted the silverleaf nightshade and fern acacia too. This let me rearrange the pots here in a more tidy and compact arrangement.

06/13/2023 around the yard

Paula’s Escobaria vivipara cactus continues to bloom beautifully in the daytime. It was cloudy. I’m not sure if that matters for it to bloom.
A very frilly summer iris begins… I think this one is from Judy?
The standing cypress is really going now with multiple plants in full bloom!
The Chef made a delicious pizza with fresh basil and oregano from the yard.
I believe this is a safflower that sprouted from the bird seed.
I believe these are our two different sunflowers species. The one on the left has narrower and wavy edged leaves; we think/hope it’s Helianthus petiolaris (both Mom and another friend have given us seeds). The one on the right has big broad leaves and I think is an offspring of the Helianthus annuus that volunteered last year.
Ironweed is starting to bud.
Greeneyes is about to bloom!

06/11/2023 exciting backyard business

A second Ohio spiderwort is blooming!
The prairie parsley appears to be developing seeds in spite of only one plant blooming. Hopefully they are fertile (they certainly look nice and plump?) and we can have more sprouting since this is a biennial!

06/11/2023 roots

Unless you’re taking a herbarium specimen or moving stuff in the garden, we often don’t see how deep some native plant roots are. Today I helped two friends rescue plants from a remnant prairie that is about to be dozed and built on. (We dug with permission.)

A Winecup had the taproot I’ve read about but it was concentrated near the surface. This seems likely to live.
I figured this big milkweed has a very deep root so we didn’t try it.
Briar sat in the shade of encroaching cedar trees and helped check the reference book.
A cute hopper insect!
Scarlet pea had a very long root. Again we’ll see how it grows!

Spiderworts, native perennial dayflower, an all yellow Gaillardia, fleabane, western horse nettle, and Heterotheca (I think?) all came up easily with a sharpshooter shovel. Little bluestem has very deep roots but I think they are supposed to be okay to divide. Fern acacia (I think??) had a longer root (over a foot for a 6” tall plant) that may have broken.

06/06/2023 more flowering!

One of the cushaw squashes I put by the compost pile has sprouted! I am very curious to see what it does without watering.
Paula put out our Wise Co TX source Datura wrightii. The one in the back in the shade was from central TX.
The ‘Tango’ Agastache aurantica hybrid is blooming!
Echinacea purpurea in the backyard is mostly open now!

06/04/2023 horsemint!!! et al

There are two horsemint plants blooming and budding their pink towers in the backyard!
A lone Rudbeckia amplexicaulis is attempting a flower.
Pima Club wheat has seeds!!
One marigold has started in the front yard!

05/29/2023 blooming!

A plantain flowering in the tiered cactus planter. This one was in the soil from Jeanne’s spike-moss.
The Hedeoma is blooming in the planter too!
Paula noticed this sneaky Prairie Coneflower blooming!
Some sunflowers near Leon’s blackberries have wavy edged leaves. We are hoping they might be Helianthus petiolaris.