Haven't shown yall my Christmas present! Brandon found this quality rain barrel at an estate sale.
The Mahonia fortunii that was in this location, which was getting pounded by the rainfall that pours down from a corner in our gutter-less roof, got a new home. So it's a great spot for a wonderful garden helper. My new plantings love the extra rainwater!
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August and I were out in the yard chatting with our neighbor when we witnessed a large group of crows in pursuit of a larger bird which looked to us like an owl. Could it be?
Inside, Brandon heard the commotion, ran out and jumped into his jeep to follow them where they appeared to have flown a few streets over, verifying the barn owl sighting.
Hooray for spontaneous early morning events!
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Turk's cap (Malvaviscus drummondii 'Pam Puryear') was one of the first items I planted at our house when we moved in around this time last year.
Many Texans are familiar with the red version, but the pink flowers provide a lovely contrast to our house's blue-green trim.
Blooming happily through summer and fall, it tolerates the morning shade and the scorching afternoon sun that this location dictates.
Through our living room window, we enjoyed watching hummingbirds visit the flowers during the miserable summer when we spent much of our time indoors.
Since it works so well in difficult locations like I described, I somewhat randomly added another on the side of the house in spring.
With my background in art, I'm ashamed at how long it takes for me to grasp and utilize basic design concepts, such as repetition.
This fall, finally realizing that the lovely effects of this plant would have more impact if repeated all along the front of the house, I added another in this bed, one on the other side and one near a window in back.
In another design blunder, I had orignally placed this Chinese fringe flower (Loropetulum chinense 'Plum Delight') on the other side of the walk where I immediately feared it getting too large.
It's possible that it would've never occured to me to move it to the giant gap on this side unless my dear husband hadn't suggested it! Thank you, Brandon.
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We never had to worry about lawn while living in Brooklyn. Our tiny yard at first had some weedy grass which I eventually eliminated. However, now we have an urban field of green and I spent a little time working on making it greener this spring.
Using a hand-held aeration tool, I poked lots and lots of holes all around the dead patches and in the decent looking areas too. Many times I just left the thing sticking in the lawn so I could go back to it later. With 2 year old August always playing around the yard as I work, there are constant stops and starts with every project.
To make the patches more inviting for the St. Augustine runners, I added several bags of Humax Turf Soil Builder which is finely screened and easily trickled into the lawn by hand.
Finally, I applied an inexpensive organic fertilizer, NHG's 6-3-0 once the lawn began to show active growth. In three weeks there was a marked difference and now it all looks great.
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Brandon found this completely decent wood table with three good chairs up for grabs out by the street. One chair was broken so I guess someone decided it was time for a replacement. We've already been enjoying this new lounge area on the occasional warm days we've had lately.
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On a fall weekend trip to Caprock Canyon state park, Brandon found this tumbleweed covered in cotton which we used as a Christmas decoration. It's so pleasing to look at that we've left it hanging.
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In June, Brandon had a chance to see and photograph our old garden in Brooklyn.
June was always my favorite month in New York, but the garden already looks wild and overgrown. We left a number of projects unfinished and my short-sighted plantings are certainly in evidence.
It's weird to look back after a just a few months and see the garden living on without us.
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A pair of Mississippi Kites have set up a nest in an oak tree next door!
We are enjoying watching these small, graceful hawks which are somewhat uncommon migratory residents of Texas.
Sitting outside playing with August one day, I heard a scuffle in a nearby tree. I looked up to catch the two birds in the act of procreating!
I yelled for Brandon to come see. It all happened rather quickly, but in the afterglow the two birds perched in the tree for a good while. We're looking forward to seeing the babies in the nest.
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We visited our friend's family ranch near Gainesville, TX around Memorial day and Brandon took some good shots of their hummingbird feeder.
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I put my new baby in a sling the other day and did the tiniest bit of gardening!
The weather has been quite dreary this whole month so I was really craving sunshine and a few moments out of the house.
At first I thought I'd just sit a while in the sun, but after a while I decided to try a task or two. I kept my goals simple — one job at a time. I started with cutting back this old hydrangea. The one that is always surpassed in beauty by my neighbor's nicer one on the other side of the fence.
I got it all done with baby Augie still sleeping happily. Yes, it contributed to my debris problem, but what's new?
Next, I popped this pretty ranunculus into the ground near the front fence. Brandon brought it to me from a trip to the farmers market. That was about all I could accomplish, but I felt wonderful to spend time outside and tend to a few things.
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Our baby, born naturally March 31st, 2009 at 5:10 AM, weighing 9 lbs. 1 oz. and measuring 21 inches.
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A week past my estimated due date, I'm consumed by anticipation waiting for our baby to arrive.
Trying to balance restfulness with activity, the obvious solution is to spend some time in the garden to get my mind off what isn't happening.
First, I tackled some long neglected compost chores. My compost set up is an ongoing problem...
I have homemade bins, an Envirocycle tumbling bin, impromptu buckets filled with debris and more piles tucked in where ever I can hide them. Still, all this never seems to contain the amount of stuff I accumulate.
I did a little sifting and spread it around the yard. This made a little room in a few buckets for more debris.
Then I got started cutting things back and raking the soil to remove leaves.
Brandon came out to help me and together we got most of it cleaned up so you can see bits of spring emerging.
I haven't had this much energy to expend out there in a good while. Yes, of course I am hoping it's a final burst of nesting before I go into labor!
This work feels good on multiple levels. It keeps my mind in the present tense. It provides a sense of accomplishment.
And seeing the lovely little spring beauties is always uplifting. I'm so grateful for my garden.
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This old tree stump has been a major eyesore in my garden for years. You might remember from previous posts how much it has aggravated me.
While we were cleaning up, Brandon noticed that it had rotted and perhaps could be broken up. I was dubious and wouldn't let him use our lovely tools to attempt this process.
However, he was right! With a little nudging and the help of our dear neighbors, with whom we share a fence and therefore this problem, the whole thing began to break off.
They took the chunks and pieces to the street then Brandon sifted some broken down material into the hole. It was an exciting part of a good day.
A profound garden annoyance is gone!
Hooray!
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Look at these huge, revolting grubs found under the stump we pulled out!
Brandon put them in a bowl to save them for birds. They are ugly, but they helped do the work of breaking down the wood so that we could remove that horrible dead tree stump.
Thanks, grubs.
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Brandon took these images of the park across from our house covered in a sheet of ice earlier in February. I hope we are past this brutal phase of winter, but March is always unpredictable in the Northeast.
By this time of year I am quite weary of cold. In Texas, where I grew up, springtime is beginning, but in Brooklyn, this month will remain chilly with the remaining possibility of winter storms. Bleah. I don't like March.
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This plastic duck head, which once graced our front porch and plugged in to light up, became brittle and broke off in the cold. Brandon found a new place for it on the fence post where Seymour spent a little time last summer. He sort of brightens things up a bit during the sometimes gloomy winter.
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We've had a little snow around here lately. This is our view of the park from the window.
Snow cover helps make the dead plant shapes somewhat more interesting and less messy. My fall cleanup was rather minimal so there's plenty to cut back and rake smooth if we get a thaw. Since our baby is due in late March and I am not as agile as I once was, Brandon has promised to help me straighten up a little more when we get a nice weekend without snow.
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The squirrel population appears to be exploding.
Brandon photographed 5 babies near this hole in the tree.
Earlier in the year, he fussed at some ladies for feeding huge amounts of store-bought nuts to squirrels in the park. Those varmits buried thousands of nuts in our tiny yard making little holes everywhere. Later they chewed through wires in our neighbor's truck, leaving him stranded and nearly causing an explosion. Looks like next year will be equally challenging.
In other alarming wildlife news, we found 2 dead birds in our yard. They appear to be migratory warblers. We also found a cat collar which might belong to the culprit. Sigh.
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I didn't mention it at the time, but my dear husband brought home a number of beautiful cut-flower bouquets for me this summer.
We waited to make the announcement to the blogosphere, but these beauties were all in celebration of the news that I am pregnant.
Yep, now you know why I've neglected my garden so much this season!
I'm feeling more energetic now at 5 months, but I pretty much slept through the last half of the summer. I have managed to devote my remaining energy to gardening at work and Brandon has thankfully helped me a great deal at home.
We are looking forward to springtime when our little flower will bloom.
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We spotted a new butterfly species in the garden!
From this ventral view it looks very much like its relative, the Hairstreak which we have seen here before.
This tiny Summer Azure (Celastrina 'neglecta') showed it's blue-gray namesake coloring when flying ...or at least we never saw it rest with its wings open. Brandon patiently took these photos in the few moments when he did pause on our bush clover (Lespedeza sp.) which hasn't begun blooming.
According to my butterfly book, there is a great deal of variation and therefore confusion in this group called Azures or Blues so hopefully we have correctly identified it. Anyway, we were excited to see a new species finding something of interest in our small garden.
Another (or perhaps our resident) Tiger Swallowtail visited the echinacea, which has seen a good bit of insect action lately.
These sweet visitors are so charming I can't help photographing them repeatedly.
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