Posted on September 4, 2022September 4, 202209/04/2022 seeds!!! The two leaf senna had at least two seed pods! The second plant doesn’t have any buds but is growing new leaves. This sprouted after another surprise rain this morning and I don’t know what it is. Cowpen daisies I bought are sprouting! The scurf pea (Psoralea/Pediomelium latestipulata) from Mom has its first adult leaf! Little seedlings sprouting. Could be what I planted (Scarlet globemallow), could be volunteers. More cowpen daisies in a pot where I put them and some Rosa sp from Mom from Fannin Co TX. Tiny seedlings in the soil from Jeanne that contains the annual Sedum nutallii! Little seedlings sprouting. Again, could be what I planted, could be volunteers. This hope is Verbena halei.
Posted on August 19, 2022August 19, 202208/19/2022 I tried cantaloupe in my oatmeal this morning, hoping it would be magical like peaches, but I think they’re best eaten cold and alone. The melon, not the person doing the eating. Gram is too tall to stretch under this chair. He came out from under the chair to stretch, then went back under the chair to continue observing his Doggie. Two new blooms on the two leaf senna!! I think one of the juniperleaf cuttings had some nearly ripe seeds on it and they sprouted!!! I kept them in standing water in the shade for the first few days as a cutting, then moved them to a dry spot but still in the shade, where they are now. Still watering every day. This is additionally interesting because the seeds I collected from the original juniperleaf in the winter have not sprouted anywhere I put them. I was reading today in Nokes’ germination book that sometimes fresher seeds don’t have such an impermeable seed coat. A few little grasses in the backyard where I sprinkled the native grass mix from Plants of the Southwest! The mix was blue grama and buffalograss.
Posted on August 17, 2022August 17, 202208/17/2022 The two leaf senna had a second new flower today! The three leaved legume around it is Strophostyles bean, a native volunteer. I’ve seen several Bell’s roadside skippers lately in the backyard.
Posted on August 17, 2022August 17, 202208/16/2022 developments of interest Tuesday started off sleepy before work. On my way out I saw the two leaf senna blooming for the first time! I’m so happy it’s doing ok. There is a second plant too but it has no buds yet. The Chef and Briar picked me up from work. When we came back, we discovered Gram waiting. He was waiting for his Doggie. “Hello Big Sister!”. Once she came back in the house all was well again. Fajita salad by Paula and The Chef. I am informed there were garden onions and at least one garden tomato involved. The first cushaw squash just keeps growing. We think it is almost ready as the rind is getting pretty hard now. The purple beauty peppers are inexplicably red. I wonder if it’s too hot for the purple color. The mystery pumpkin vine made a second bit of Halloween. It’s the slightly more yellow one above. The vine itself seemed to be dying of squash vine borers so we went ahead and removed it.
Posted on August 4, 2022August 4, 202208/04/2022 Fall obedient plant is thinking about blooming! I think over the winter I’ll move it to closer to the bird bath to get more water. One of the two leaf sennas has buds!! The fluttermill primrose in the rock garden just keeps blooming!! This “live forever” from Judy is budding. I thought this was a plant hopper. It’s insect poop. Technically this is called frass. 😏 This fuzzy plant came with some wild onions I got at Mom and Dad’s. I am hoping it might be snow on the prairie! Paula said the mysterious pumpkin was ready. While we were outside, we checked out the cushaw squash. Already longer than Paula’s arm to the elbow!! Shackleton was neutral about the pumpkin. Tuqu was interested in the pumpkin and smelled it carefully. Shackleton was repelled by the fragrant Madhu ras cantaloupe. Tuqu tried to touch it. Today’s two harvests plus the watermelon from the farm share.
Posted on June 5, 2022June 5, 202206/05/2022 bird nest Bird’s nest fungi, that is!!! The Chef noticed these this afternoon. Very excited. A William’s pride apple!!! I realized there are multiple kinds of horse crippler cactus. Mom helped me identify this as Echinocactus horizonthalonius (the common and widespread subspecies), based on it having eight ribs. The flower closed in the sunshine today. Apparently it needs a second individual to make fruit, ie it’s self sterile (also known as self incompatible). Some kind friends brought us a big obsidian rock! I put it near the baby two leaf senna. I think the black and yellow will look very nice together. A small pokeberry growing in backyard. A Texas dandelion accidentally brought from home! Yay!
Posted on June 2, 2022June 2, 202206/02/2022 New book in the mail! The Social Wasps of North America by Chris Alice Kratzer. It looks very useful. Awards for bravery all around tonight. Shacks walked right past Briar and she stayed put. Purple coneflower finally opening up! Ironweed is budding, seems early?? This is one of two dill seedlings in the herb bed. Pretty sure now that this is the Mexican sage from Judy. Whoa, standing cypress about to bloom! The just-planted two leaf senna doing okay. The older two leaf senna seems to have gotten nibbled. I’ll have to consider if I should put some Vaseline around it against earwigs or a wire cage over it maybe for rabbits. A non native moss rose (Portulaca). Dog behind.
Posted on May 26, 2022May 26, 202205/25/2022 last rain day The Datura wrightii is still alive near the chimneys. Rudbeckia amplexicaulis from home is starting to bloom! I put this by the bird bath. Helianthus mollis coming up! The others I did from seeds in the Tupperware didn’t make it. This one came up on its own. The second senna has gained another pair of leaves!
Posted on May 17, 2022May 17, 202205/17/2022 I meant to plant more beans but I got distracted looking around A new kind of plant in the plant window. Widow sedum in full bloom with a background of Englemann daisies. A second baby two leaf senna is coming up in a container!! This one is in yard soil instead of potting soil. Very excited. Briar lounges on the buffalo grass with the widow sedums to her left and Englemann daisies behind her. Going through the house to go see front yard, I glimpse the new plant. Hi Shacks! Rainbow garden orange is considering blooming (butterfly milkweed). Fluttermill Missouri primrose is living up to its name with new seedpods produced! A Venus looking glass volunteered in the strawberry bed! I love these. Apparently they’re annuals. This tiny native cucurbit vine appears every year and I adore it.
Posted on May 13, 2022May 13, 202205/13/2022 garden checkup Sweet basil seedlings. Butterfly milkweed is up in the backyard too but hasn’t flowered yet (same as front yard). Yellow flax still blooming! It’s annual, so I hope the seeds like it enough here. Whitlow-wort gone to seed. Another native annual from TX home. False gaura that I planted from potted last night is doing well. Texas verbena has bloomed! It’s a perennial. The rattlebox had adorable seed pods as promised. The Rocky mountain bee plant from the botany club plant sale is blooming! There were ants at the blooms. The Phacelia is really fun. The prairie bluet is flowering a bit. I’m worried since it’s early that this means it’s not happy. However, it’s a perennial, so hopefully it will do its thing now and be less worried next year. The twice-moved yucca is making new little leaves! This yucca is in the shade which I figure is probably okay at this age. Many plants seem to like to have nurse plants. The baby winecups are starting to get true leaves. Second year for this mystery plant with no blooms. It does have a square stem. Abby suggested Monarda, which I did seed here at one point, so fingers crossed!! Slippery silk beans and several other varieties are up!! The two leaf senna didn’t have a lot of roots when I planted it from a pot last night. So, I put two containers of water so it would gradually keep it damp for now so it can get established. It’s my only sprout from the seed and I love this plant! It’s a host for Cloudless Sulphur butterflies.