So, dad, wait no more! It's officially fall and while we're still officially in a drought (I heard it would take 30 inches of rain to get us out of drought conditions) it did get a bit cooler last weekend. Rather than the 100 + temperatures we were having, there were a few days when the temp didn't get over 90. I spent last Saturday afternoon lounging in the hammock - BLISS!!
The hummingbirds have gone south, although there may still be a straggler or two. I've left a feeder out, plus there are still lots of blooms in the garden for them, such as the Dallas Red Lantana above and the Tropical Milkweed below.
Speaking of the milkweed -- this photo and the one below were taken about 10 days ago. Looking around the garden as the sun went down today, I see they are all loaded down with seedpods. I'm going to collect some seed tomorrow, if they haven't all blown away on the wind. So if anyone would like some free milkweed seeds, let me know and I'll save you some.
With all the milkweed around, I was rather surprised to see this Monarch on the Southern Wax Myrtle.
I'm keeping a look out on the Milkweed for caterpillars, but haven't seen any yet.
Oh My Sweet Potato!
In the bed beside the garage, the sweet potato vines have really taken over this summer! Believe it or not, there are some holly bushes and Indian Hawthorn in this bed. You can't really see them for all the sweet potato vine. Only the dark one has blooms, apparently. I noticed the same thing last year.
Our pine tree behind the house doesn't look so great in this photo, but it looks better in person. And believe me it looks a whole lot better than the hundreds of trees around town that have succumbed to the drought.
It's very depressing driving along and seeing whole forests of dead trees. I'm surprised the county aren't being more proactive about taking some of them down, especially considering the devastating fire in Bastrop County was said to have been started by a tree falling on a power line.
We can only hope that disaster isn't repeated. And we can pray for rain.
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
3 comments:
Your yard looks terrific. Don't you love that potato vine? They do tend to take over though so I've learned to give them lots of space.
To straszne jak rośliny umierają z powodu braku deszczu, ale w Twoim ogrodzie wody nie brakowało. Dbałaś o to.Życzę deszczu, jeśli on tak bardzo potrzebny. Pozdrawiam
Hi Jayne,
It took me a minute to figure out this was all one post. I couldn't figure out why there wasn't a link to leave comments after the first part. LOL
I am glad to hear you are getting some relief from the hot temps, although 90 is plenty warm. I love how your lantana and sweet potato vines are so lush.
My tropical milkweed has been blooming a few weeks. I have seen one caterpillar on it. Today, I saw a monarch feeding on the nectar.
Thanks for your nice comment on my last post. I always enjoy my visits to your blog, even though I have trouble making the rounds.
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