tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38223436290053499342024-03-13T11:15:46.854-05:00Jayne's Country GardenA novice expat gardener from England enjoying the challenge of creating a garden from scratch in Texas ...Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.comBlogger323125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-48208605095375888242018-04-29T11:41:00.002-05:002018-04-29T11:56:27.622-05:00Retro Sunday on the PatioBack in the seventies, when I was still living in England, I really got into Macramé. (You say it MAC-ruh-MAY, I say it Mc-RAH-me) I made plant hangers, hanging tables, owls, wall hangings, tote bags and even a head board for the bed.<br />
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My parents loved them too and many years ago I made them some hangers for their garden room. Just last week I went back to England for a short visit with my parents and I took some new hangers I had made for them as the old ones had deteriorated overtime.<br />
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So this weekend, as it was lovely weather and I was pottering in the garden, I decided it was time to resurrect the plant hangers I made a couple of years ago.<br />
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I love the way they look against the brick columns on our patio. I do have to remember to take them down if it gets very windy though, as the plants can get damaged by crashing against the wall.<br />
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I got the plants in Lowe's -- the type of hanging basket that has plastic hangers and hooks attached. I just snipped off the plastic hangers and put them in the macramé hangers.<br />
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There's another hanger to put up, but no basket to put in it yet. Can't decide what I want :-)<br />
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Since we had cleared out and mulched the island beds, they are looking a lot better than they were, as I showed you in my last post. But they don't have a lot of color yet. So yesterday I bought a flat of Profusion Zinnias in apricot and yellow to add some splashes of color. I also got some Dallas Red Lantana as I saw some photos of our garden 5 years ago where the back border was a mass of red blooms and it was lovely.<br />
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The mystery plant that appeared in the island bed and it was suggested that it might be a Pineapple Sage, hasn't bloomed at all. It quickly grew to three feet tall and was thick and bushy, but then the leaves started yellowing and dying off from the bottom of the plant up. I'm thinking about cutting it down.<br />
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However, there's another volunteer Pineapple Sage on the back side of the same bed, and that one is blooming. I saw a flash of green on this yesterday, but wasn't quick enough to grab the camera and get a photo of the visiting hummingbird.<br />
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Time to get the feeders out!<br />
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I have a couple more ideas for blog posts, inspired by my trip to England to visit my parents which I will share with you soon.<br />
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Until then, have a great Sunday!<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-66120280284943958152018-04-15T12:18:00.000-05:002018-04-15T12:18:11.525-05:00A Spring Day in the Garden<span>It's days like this that make me thankful that I live in Texas. While many areas are getting heavy rain/sleet/snowfall, we are experiencing the most glorious spring day. The temperatures are a little chilly (for here, at least) but the sun is shining and I was compelled to head out into the garden and snap some photos.</span><br />
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In the side garden we have beans coming up and getting ready to start climbing the tower. In the corners of the bed I planted Fennel, for any swallowtail butterflies that might want to lay eggs :-)<br />
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<span>The cucumber and tomato plants are coming along nicely too, while the garlic chives, that have been in that spot for years, are definitely outgrowing their boundary.</span><br />
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<span>I love the view looking across the back of the garden from east to west. I sort of wish this was the view we got from the house/patio, but perhaps it's just the fact that I don't see it on a daily basis that makes it special.</span><br />
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<span>Here's a view from the front of the island beds.</span><br />
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<span>In the back border, under the Southern Wax Myrtle, the white veined pipevine, is growing nicely and I hope ready to host some Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars this year. </span><br />
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<span>That's all from me today -- I'm getting ready to fly to London this evening to visit my parents for a week. I hope you all have a good week.</span><br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-71346934012685523102018-03-29T16:24:00.000-05:002018-03-29T16:24:52.011-05:00If You Plant It, They Will Come....In my last blog post, I mentioned that I had been doing some planting in the garden. When I got home from work today, I took a stroll around the garden so see how things were doing and if anything sustained any damage from the strong storms we had yesterday and last night.<br />
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Luckily, there was no damage. Also, I was thrilled to note that there were several bees enjoying the perennial Salvia. It didn't take them long to find it :-)<br />
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I thought I'd share some photos that I took - they make me so happy :-)<br />
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As always, if you click on any of the photos, it will enlarge and you will be able to see the bees more clearly.<br />
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Did you know that June 18-24, 2018 has been designated National Pollinator Week? Several states have also proclaimed a State Pollinator Week (Texas hasn't -- yet).<br />
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The <a href="http://pollinator.org/pollinator-week" target="_blank">Pollinator Partnership</a> website has information about pollination for farmers and gardeners, as well as fun stuff - how to build a bee condo, how kids can help pollinators and more.<br />
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There's also information about how to contact your governor to ask them to proclaim a State Pollinator Week, including contact information for the various state governors' offices and a sample letter or phone script to get you started.<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-82558346070153011772018-03-25T16:58:00.000-05:002018-03-25T19:47:34.030-05:00Spring Garden 2018Wow! It's been six months since I posted on this blog! The garden has languished in neglect for much of the past couple of years. If you've read my blog before you will know I had several surgeries in 2016, that resulted in me being out of action all that summer, and the weeds and Bermuda grass taking over the island beds. Not pretty, is it?<br />
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<i>Achillea, which has naturalized under the Vitex tree, is now invading the island bed,</i></div>
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I started out last year with good intentions of getting it under control and having a glorious garden, but you know what they say about the best laid plans....<br />
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I won't bore you with all the details but suffice to say that the weeds won the battle again last year.<br />
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So I'm trying again this year! <br />
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Eric has been helping by pulling out some of the Bermuda, and in recent weeks he's also been buying mulch and dumping it copiously on the island beds.<br />
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I had been getting depressed recently because the weather would be lovely all week while I was at work, but lousy weather on the weekend meant I still couldn't get out and do anything.<br />
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But finally, the weather was pleasant this weekend and I ran to the garden center and picked up some perennial salvia. I've planted this before, but not had luck with it, so I'm hoping it does better this time and is actually perennial.<br />
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The yellow flowers are Euryops pectinatus -- Shrub Daisy which is said to do well in this area and is drought tolerant. Just a little dead heading should keep it blooming all summer. I love yellow and purple together :-)<br />
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In the back border, under the Vitex, Homestead Verbena (more purple) and Achillea are naturalizing beautifully. As feathery and delicate as the Achillea is, the snow and ice we had this winter didn't faze it. However, I don't want it taking over the island bed, as it is trying to do (see first picture), so I'm digging/pulling it out as I can.
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It's a bit late, but I'm also starting some Profusion zinnia seedlings in seed starter mix on the patio. I had originally planned to scatter the seeds and let the grow where they landed, but since we're mulching the island beds as part of our battle against weeds and bermuda, I had to come up with a Plan B.
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Another plant that came through the winter unscathed to bloom again is the Dianthus. I have several and they are all doing nicely. Now see that green plant in the foreground of the photo? I don't know what that is.<br />
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It's growing where I had Cosmos last year, and there are some small cosmos seedlings around it. So I know it's not Cosmos, but I can't think what it could be. The very fact that it is so lush and green makes me suspect it's a weed that will need to be dug out. But if anyone can help me ID it I would appreciate it. A closer photo, with my hand for size comparison, is below.<br />
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<i>Name That Plant</i></div>
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One of my favorite flowers from when I was younger is the Fuchsia. My dad always has luscious hanging baskets with them in the summer in England. I was thrilled when I saw they had them in Walmart, of all places, so I grabbed one to hang on the patio. <br />
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I know it will only last through the spring, and won't be able to handle our summer, but I'm going to enjoy it while I can.<br />
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The blooms always remind me of dancing ballerinas.<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>
Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-55268781030931328492017-10-08T16:22:00.000-05:002017-10-08T18:40:10.900-05:00The October Garden and Monarch Foster Success<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I'm afraid I haven't blogged in a while. The garden just looked too sad throughout the dog days of August, especially after Hurricane Harvey blew through. The island beds and the back border were taken over by Bermuda grass and other weeds that I just couldn't keep up with. <br />
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That's not to say that the weeds are now under control - they aren't, by any means. But it always seems that the garden gets its second wind in October.<br />
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The Lantana, which seemed to languish all summer, is blooming profusely again. I have several, in containers as well as in the island beds. Lantana is always a favorite with the butterflies, which makes it a favorite of mine too!<br />
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I have three Rose of Sharon bushes, all sprouted from cuttings I brought over from my last house 9 years ago. The one below, which gets afternoon shade from the fence on the west side of our property, seems to do best. The one on the other side of the garden, which struggles with full sun all day, as well as turf grass all round, is barely hanging on. I may transplant it somewhere else this fall.</div>
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Last year, this Pink Muhly grass was little more than a big ant hill. I have at least, managed to banish the ants, if not the Bermuda grass that seems to invade everywhere. I was so happy I happened to look out in to the garden at just the right time to see the plumes turn vibrant pink in the morning sun.</div>
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If you recall earlier this year, I raised and released some Monarch butterflies. I had hoped to raise a lot more but things didn't go as planned and I only released a few more and had a few sad losses which almost made me give up. Then one of my friends told me she was going out of town and asked if I would mind keeping an eye on the chrysalides she had been raising, and releasing the butterflies when they were ready.<br />
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Would I ever!!<br />
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So Barbara brought over two hampers with a total of about 60 chrysalides and since then I have released six or more of them each day!<br />
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Luckily the hampers are easy to carry out and set on the patio table, and then I just let each on crawl on my fingers and make a note of whether it's male or female, before letting it fly off into the garden. I'm at 51 and counting as of today!<br />
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I'll finish my post with a volunteer that showed up in the garden. It's in more or less the same place that the wild bergamot grew and bloomed earlier this year.<br />
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I did a bit of sleuthing and have identified it as Mikania scandens, also known as Climbing Hempweed, Climbing Hempvine and Climbing Boneset. <br />
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It's very definitely a weed, having taken over a corner of the island bed and twined itself around the wind chimes.<br />
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I would have yanked it out of the ground at first sight except that the blooms reminded me of clover blooms. Knowing how much honey bees enjoy clover, I wondered if this attract them as well, so I let it grow and bloom.<br />
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Sure enough - on close examination today I found several bees enjoying the flowers, like the one in the photo above. So I guess it can stay for a while :-)<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-75306035497685727522017-08-12T18:02:00.000-05:002017-08-12T18:10:02.601-05:00Up the Monarch Nursery TrailIn my last post (a month ago!!!) I predicted I'd be seeing more Monarch butterflies, along with caterpillars and chrysalides, as we progressed in to August. Well I'm happy to report that my predictions were correct.<br />
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During the week I clipped some leaves that had eggs on and brought them inside. (If you click on the images, you can see a larger version to see the eggs) This method was suggested by members of a Facebook group, but I found that the leaves shriveled very quickly and went crisp before the eggs had hatched.<br />
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Once the eggs were hatched I added fresh leaves each day, but it's a lot of work keeping the container clean and I was terrified I was going to throw out a hatchling with the frass (caterpillar poop) and crispy leaves. In addition, the tiny hatchlings seem bound and determined to escape. They were all over the place!<br />
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Now those caterpillars have grown a bit, I have transferred them to milkweed clippings in water picks, like the ones in the photo below. I think this is my preferred method. If I can find stems with eggs and small caterpillars on them, I can cut out the first step above. <br />
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Giving them fresh milkweed is just a case of taking new cuttings and placing them in picks right next to the ones already there. The caterpillars move over to the fresh leaves pretty quickly and then I can just remove the old ones.<br />
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The photo above was taken through the back door, with a bird screen on it, so it's not a great shot. But do you see anything strange about this photo?<br />
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See that little flash of orange in the center of the photo? <br />
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There it is again - top left. A Queen butterfly! She was flitting around the milkweed as I was collecting clippings and when I went in to get my camera to try and get a photo of her, I couldn't believe when she started laying eggs on the stems I had left on the table!<br />
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See her little gift in the middle of the leaf? </div>
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If you look at the enlarged version of this pic, you can see there's a tiny caterpillar on here too. Not sure if it's a Monarch or a Queen.<br />
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So here I go on the Monarch Nursery trail again. <br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-67877884035888959682017-07-09T15:35:00.000-05:002017-07-09T15:35:44.656-05:00Butterflies and Bees<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span>One of my favorite pastimes is watching the bees and butterflies enjoying the bounty of our island beds. This year seems to be shaping up to be a good year for them.</span><br />
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<span>This lovely pink flower is much beloved by the pollinators of all types that visit our garden. But I have no idea what it is!! </span><br />
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<span>In fact, at it's base, I have a sign which states "I don't remember planting this"! The very fact that it has taken hold and is thriving so well leads me to believe that it is, in fact, a weed. </span><br />
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<span>If anyone knows what it is, I would really appreciate if you could let me know in the comments. here's another photo, showing the forming seed heads.</span><br />
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<span>The bumblebees also love the Salvia Greggi., there are usually at least five of them bumbling from bloom to bloom at any given time. They make me smile.</span><br />
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<span>Another visitor this week has been this Black Swallowtail on the Dallas Red Lantana (at least I think think it's a Black Swallowtail). I haven't had much luck getting a good photo of it's wings to ID it with. I tried again earlier today with no luck at all!</span><br />
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<span>I have better luck taking photos of Gulf Fritillaries. They seem to like landing on blooms to eat, rather than fluttering around like the Swallowtails do. Makes the photos much easier. Here's one on the Violet Queen zinnia. </span><br />
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<span>Here's another one enjoying the Profusion zinnia. You can also see the sign I mentioned earlier in the post.</span><br />
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<span>I'm also seeing Monarch butterflies in the garden. This looks like a female, so it's not one of the ones I released a couple of days ago from my Monarch Nursery, which were both male. </span><br />
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<span>Speaking of the Monarch Nursery, I still have 4 chrysalides in the enclosure in the bathroom. Here's a photo of some of the caterpillars before they changed.</span><br />
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<span>And here's one who has left the milkweed and climbed to the top of the enclosure to make his chrysalis. </span><br />
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<span>I'll probably get a lot more caterpillars and chrysalides later in the year, as the Monarchs prepare for their migration. Last year I had a total of 30. I'll see if I can match that this year :-) Wish me luck!</span><br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span><br />
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Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-56054257727579675702017-07-06T18:26:00.003-05:002017-07-06T18:26:49.349-05:00It's a Boy!<span>When I got home from work this evening, I went to check on my caterpillars, (now all chrysalides) and was thrilled by orange flapping in the corner of the mesh enclosure.</span><br />
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<span>The first Monarch butterfly had hatched and was eager to be released!!</span><br />
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<span>I carefully wrapped my hands around it and carried it outside to the patio, with my husband opening doors along the way.</span><br />
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<span>Once on the patio I opened my hands ago let it go. The butterfly sat there for a moment, opening its wings slowly to show me that it was a beautiful boy, and then he flew up, up, up and away. Gone without a second glance!</span><br />
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<span>I do wish I had got a photo of him sitting in my hand, but he didn't hang around long enough!</span><br />
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<span>I've got five more chrysalides in the enclosure, so perhaps I'll have better luck getting a photo of one of them in my hand.</span><br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-69352677949367341162017-07-04T14:00:00.001-05:002017-07-04T14:10:58.813-05:00Happy 4th of July!!<div>
As a departure from my usual garden blogging, today I'm celebrating the Independence of my adopted country, the United States, with these images and quotes. I hope you enjoy them. Wishing you all a safe and happy Fourth of July.<br />
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America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination ~~ Harry S. Truman</div>
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With freedom comes responsibility. ~~ Eleanor Roosevelt</div>
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Freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation. ~~ Hillary Clinton</div>
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Images from Pixabay/Pinterest.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-62579134959209920782017-06-18T20:26:00.000-05:002017-06-18T20:26:36.235-05:00Pretty in Pink<span>The the past few years it has seemed like the flowers in the garden have been predominantly orange, with some complementary purple thrown in.</span><br />
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<span>This year, the theme is pink, pink and more pink.</span><br />
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<span>For some reason known only to the flowers themselves, it was only the pink blooms from last year that self-seeded.</span><br />
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This pink Cosmos is at least four foot tall and it's really put on a nice show. The only problem has been that it's in front of the shorter Salvia Greggi and Pineapple Sage and blocking them (and any hummingbirds that may be enjoying from view!<br />
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<span>These pink Cleomes are about 4 feet tall as well. They are more or less past their best now (this photo was taken a week or so ago). I'm collecting seeds so I can start some seedlings and put them where I want them next year. </span><br />
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I think this giant Violet Queen zinnia is more of a fuchsia pink than violet, but I love it anyway. I had thrown several seeds directly into the island bed, but this was the only one that came up. I've got more seeds, but probably too late to try and get them started now. My bad.<br />
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In other news, I had been lamenting the total lack of Monarch butterflies in the garden so far this year, but in the past week or so there has been at least one female, laying eggs and enjoying some nectar.<br />
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<span>I've only found two first instar caterpillars so far (click on the photo below to see the larger version and you may see one), but I'm sure there are more eggs around, ready to hatch.</span><br />
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<span>I've set up the mesh cage on the patio again and have ordered some more water picks to help me keep my milkweed clippings fresh. I'm ready for the Monarch Nursery to get underway!</span><br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-49255299090709115192017-06-04T18:45:00.000-05:002017-06-04T18:45:11.739-05:00The Fruits of Our LaborsI have to admit, I don't eat as many vegetables as I should. I used to be one of those "ewww, it's green, I don't like it" people. There are many vegetables I just don't care for, so our vegetable garden is small and simple. We've had disappointments in the past, but we still keep trying.<br />
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<span>This year I would say the results are mixed. The green bean I selected very quickly grew up the bean tower and started flowering, but that was as far as we got. Not a single bean and now it's looking heat-stressed already and summer hasn't really got going yet. </span><br />
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<span>Perhaps I selected the wrong variety - the one I chose was "Tenderstar" a runner type, which reminded me of the runner beans we used to have in England. Perhaps that variety doesn't do well in our climate. Next year, I'll get them started earlier, and maybe plant a couple of different varieties.</span><br />
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<span>We are, however, having better success with the Roma tomato I selected. It's doing very nicely and we've harvested several delicious fruits already.</span><br />
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<span>I had thought that the Sir Crunch-a-Lot cucumber was a flop. It had lots of flowers but we didn't see any fruit forming for ages. </span><br />
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<span>Then earlier in the week, I noticed two huge cucumbers hanging from the frame. Yay! Success!</span><br />
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<span>So this afternoon I went out in the rain and picked a cucumber and some tomatoes... </span><br />
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<span>... and sliced and diced them and tossed them with a light balsamic </span>vinaigrette to go with our dinner tonight.<br />
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Can't wait to taste it :-)<br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span><br />
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Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-50120656799372454802017-05-29T17:03:00.000-05:002017-05-29T17:03:20.552-05:00A Weekend in the Garden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
For the past few years, the island beds have been filled with bright orange "Profusion" zinnias. The bees and butterflies loved them and they had self-seeded in years past to the point of overflowing. I was rather surprised this year when I realized that although the cosmos and cleome had self seeded, the zinnias had not.</div>
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While I love the cleome and cosmos, I wanted some more nectar sources for butterflies. I've seen very few butterflies so far this year and worried that the reason might be the lack of their favorite flowers. Or perhaps not, but I decided that planting some zinnias to add diversity to the island beds couldn't hurt.</div>
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So on Saturday I headed out to my favorite garden center, Plants for All Seasons, and checked out their selection. I came home with a flat of yellow, orange and cherry red Profusion zinnias, along with three Torinias and six Ageratum Blue Mist. It was blisteringly hot by the time I got home, so I set the plants on the patio in the shade and retreated indoors for the rest of the afternoon.</div>
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<span>I got up early on Sunday to do the planting. It was overcast and threatening to rain, which kept the temperature down a degree or two, but the humidity was at 90+ percent. Sweat was rolling off me, but it felt good to have my hands in the dirt, pulling out the bermuda and nutsedge that is ever present in the beds, and planting the new additions.</span><br />
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My back was feeling much better since my fall on the tile floor a couple of weeks ago. The gentle bending exercise seemed to do me good. I tried not to over do things and paced myself - weeding or planting for 10 minutes or so and then sitting on the patio with a tall glass of ice tea to recuperate, and then back out to weed some more, or plant something else.<br />
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Last night we had an impressive Texas thunder storm and amazing light show, with approximately an inch and a half of rain. I hope the new plants show their appreciation by spreading and blooming profusely!<br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-17578639270881075662017-05-21T15:58:00.000-05:002017-05-21T15:58:30.817-05:00Late May Daylilies<span>I had all sorts of plans to do some work in the garden this weekend, but unfortunately, my back is still complaining loudly after I slipped and fell on the tile floor a week ago. So my weekend o' weeding turned more in to a weekend of wishing. Wishing that I could get out there and pull weeds and wishing that I could plant some more zinnias as very few of them reseeded themselves this year.</span><br />
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<span>I did get out with my camera and take some photos of the nameless daylilies that are blooming now.</span><br />
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I've got a couple of this lovely deep red one with yellow throats.<br />
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<span>This little yellow one I'm pretty sure is a Stella d'Oro - it's quite small compared to the others, only about 8 inches tall and hasn't spread as as wide as the others (which need digging up and dividing)</span><br />
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<span>This lovely peach colored one is the biggest, having a spread of about three feet. It badly needs to be divided if I can ever get up the energy to do that much digging!</span><br />
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<span>Here's another deep red one with a yellow throat, but the petals are a different shape to the one above, so it's not the same variety.</span><br />
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At one time, long ago, I had the names noted down as to what was growing where, but unfortunately over the years, that information has gone missing. So these will always be nameless for me.<br />
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I still like them, whether or not they have a name :-)<br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-29781077906880470132017-05-02T21:08:00.001-05:002017-05-02T21:13:02.565-05:00Nothing Lasts ForeverWhen we first moved into this house, in the summer of 2008, one of the things that attracted us to it, in addition to the small forest of trees surrounding the lot (now sadly gone) was the lush hedgerow all along the road that runs behind our back wall.<br />
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Myriad birds make their home in the hedgerow - sparrows, chickadees, red cardinals, blue jays and more. And because I knew it wouldn't last forever, that was a big incentive for me to try and create a wildlife habitat garden.<br />
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It hasn't been easy. Underground utilities meant I couldn't create as wide a border as I wanted to. Plus, there were so many roots from the (now dead and gone) pine trees, that it was virtually impossible to plant anything in certain areas. <br />
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But I did what I could and although there are some gaps (see below) that will probably always seem like eyesores to me, our back border, along with the hedgerow behind the wall created a nice back drop for the island beds and lawn.<br />
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The hedgerow features in just about every photo I have of the garden.<br />
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It's been a backdrop for the many photos I take of the birds who come for the birdseed buffet I put out on the wall (most of whom only have to fly across the road to feast).<br />
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So when this sign appeared in the gateway to the field, I felt heartsick. I knew the time was coming when I would lose my beloved hedgerow and probably most of the beautiful birds who live in it.<br />
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The sign first showed up about three years ago and since then there have been all sorts of rumors about what was going in there. <br />
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Until recently, it was going to be a community of acreage homesites, but just recently, the developer applied for, and got permission to change the zoning to allow him to build some 200+ homes on much smaller "low maintenance" lots. <br />
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Several people from our neighborhood went along to the planning meeting and voiced concerns about additional traffic etc. but it seemed the City Council had already made up their minds.<br />
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I'm sure no one else really cares about the hedgerow and its inhabitants, but I just feel desperately sad at the thought of losing them.<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-21974045416300758652017-04-15T15:56:00.000-05:002017-04-15T15:56:16.756-05:00Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - Easter Edition<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hope everyone is enjoying this lovely Easter weekend. It also happens to be the 15th of the month, so I'm linking my post up with <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2017/04/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-april-2017.html" target="_blank">Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day</a>, hosted by Carol at <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">May Dreams Gardens</a>.<br />
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I'm enjoying a long weekend, so I've been spending quite a bit of time puttering around in the garden. And of course I had the camera with me.<br />
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<span>I think this first photo is my favorite. It includes the Cleome that re-seeded in the island bed, along with the pineapple sage and I think some Salvia Greggi is visible in this one too. I also see a Cosmos in there. If you look closely, you can also see some garden porn -- a pair of love bugs, ubiquitous at this time of year, managed to photo bomb the photo. Can you see them? (Click to see a larger version)</span><br />
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<span>The penstemons have settled in very well. I'd like to get some more colors of this - perhaps a white, if it comes in white, to round out my collection.</span><br />
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<span>OK - I have two mysteries in this photo. First, I always seem to have a hard time identifying butterflies. I'd appreciate it anyone could let me know which this is.</span><br />
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<span>Also, I'm not sure if the plant he's visiting is Salvia sylvestris May Night, or if it's Angelonia. </span><br />
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<span>I know I had several purple Angelonias growing last year, as a complement to all the orange Profusion Zinnias I had everywhere. But I did also plant some May Night Salvia for the same reason, but it didn't do very well (I actually planted it first, but ended up supplementing with the Angelonias as the May Knight didn't do well). However, this lovely plant came up in two places this spring and I'm really not sure which it is. </span><br />
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That's it for my <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2017/04/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-april-2017.html" target="_blank">Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day</a> post. Now I'm off to see what's growing in other people's gardens. You can visit them too, by clicking on the link. <br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-21786736865042223782017-04-05T20:37:00.000-05:002017-04-05T20:37:51.385-05:00Spring is Springing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I do love the sound of birds singing out in the garden. One bird that has a particularly loud and beautiful song, especially for a bird of its size, is the Carolina Wren.</div>
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I woke up to hear the beautiful notes of his song and as I looked out the window I saw him approach the patio with a mouth full of nesting materials. I later managed to catch this photo of him in the pine tree (and check out that pollen!!)</div>
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<span>I was getting excited because it appeared that a pair of wrens were going to nest on the patio, this </span>time in decorative watering can, next to an assortment of bird houses on a bakers rack in the corner.<br />
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Unfortunately, last weekend, I thought I'd offer them some more nesting material by hanging a suet feeder filled with horse hair on the rack and as I did so, I accidentally bumped the rack and a bird flew out of the watering can. To my knowledge they never returned :-(<br />
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I took a peek today after ensuring it wasn't occupied. There's a perfectly complete nest in there. All it needs is a bird family.<br />
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I do know though, that the male wren will build a selection of nests and then the female will choose which one to lay her eggs in. I guess when I bumped the shelf she decided to pick a nest in a less trafficked spot.<br />
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Oh well, maybe next year....<br />
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<span>I've been reading good news about the Monarch butterflies leaving their wintering grounds in Mexico and heading north so I wanted to be prepared for them.</span><br />
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<span>A lot of our milkweed was damaged in the winter freezes and some of it never returned, so I got proactive and headed to Plants for all Seasons, where they had just received a shipment in.</span><br />
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<span>I'm also going to get some more which will be kept in containers to go in the new Monarch nursery I just purchased. The new on is taller than the one I had last year (which I will use also). The taller height will allow me to keep container plants in it, instead of having to snip cuttings every day and keep them in water picks, transferring the caterpillars to the fresh cuttings as necessary.</span><br />
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<span>When we first moved in here I planted a Vitex tree and since then we haven't really touched it. It was a total mess with lots of suckers and criss-crossing branches. Today we had our arborist out to take care of it. He did a good job and carted off all the trimmings. However the tree was such a mess, I still think it needs tidying up some more. (No pics today)</span><br />
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<span>While he was here, he also gave one of the Live Oak trees in the front yard a much needed trim. Now my husband Eric doesn't have to do the limbo every time he wants to mow the grass underneath it.</span><br />
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<span>The cosmos I planted last year has reseeded prolifically and is putting on a beautiful display.</span><br />
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<span>We had been wondering what to do with the peach tree. It had never really put its roots down into the soil and we could move it back and forth quite easily. It suffered from the freezes over the winter too and when my husband asked the arborist about it, he literally lifted it out of the ground with no resistance at all. Question answered!</span><br />
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I seized the opportunity, since there was room in the island bed now, to relocate the Angel Trumpets, that was in a half barrel and was getting root bound. It too had frozen back in the winter, but I was happy to see some new growth, so I'm hopefully it will do well where the peach tree failed.<br />
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<span>Around the corner in the veggie garden, the runner type beans I put in beneath a new bean tower have all sprouted (well a couple didn't but most did) I'm looking forward to seeing these grow up the bean tower, which reaches above my head.</span><br />
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<span>Also in the veggie garden, the "Sir Crunch-a-lot" cucumbers have sprouted. I hope these do well this year, we've had mixed luck with cucumbers in the past including one year when we had precisely zero -- all the flowers dropped off. I'll let these establish a little and then probably thin them out</span><br />
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<span>It was so lovely being able to work in the garden when I got home from work today. First of all, the weather was perfect, something we don't often get here, and second - now I'm working locally I no longer have the grueling two-hour commute I used to have.</span><br />
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Life is good!<br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-37289955874296611032017-03-15T20:09:00.001-05:002017-03-15T20:09:54.398-05:00Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's the 15th of the month, and to garden bloggers, that means one thing -- it's time to put together a post celebrating Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted by <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/" target="_blank">Carol of May Dreams Gardens.</a></div>
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I usually forget about it until it's too late. I think I can count on my toes how many times I have posted a "GBBD" post!</div>
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But I'm pleasantly surprised that the garden is perking up, in spite of being largely ignored last year while I was recuperating from my surgeries and the few hard freezes we had over the winter.</div>
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I already showed you some of the signs of spring in the garden, now it's time to show you some blooms :-)</div>
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Our freezes didn't faze these dianthus one little bit. They stayed lovely and green all winter and now are covered in blooms. I've got several in various colors (although I don't actually remember planting them all!)</div>
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With it's delicate foliage, you would have thought that the Achillea would have succumbed to the freezes too, but they stayed a beautiful bright, feathery green all winter and are now starting to put out blooms. <br />
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it's sharing that section of the border, under the Vitex tree, with the purple Homestead verbena.<br />
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More dianthus in the island bed, along with either the Pineapple sage or Salvia Greggi. I planted them together in the same area and neglected to make a good note of which was which. So I'm not sure which is blooming here. There's also a lot of Cosmos coming up so this area will be lovely and colorful soon.<br />
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Here's a closer look. <br />
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And finally, the Star Jasmine is absolutely covered in blooms. Unfortunately, it's short on scent. We have always called it our "Scent-less Star Jasmine". There are actually two of them planted side by side and one has no scent at all, which the other has a mild aroma. I did catch a whiff of it a couple of times when I was out taking photos in the rain on Saturday but I certainly wouldn't call it highly aromatic, which is a bit of a disappointment. But I like it anyway, the blossoms are lovely and the birds appreciate the shelter afforded by the thick vines and trellis.<br />
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So that's about all I have to show for this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I hope we have nicer weather this weekend than we did last weekend. I need to do some more weeding and add compost and mulch to the island beds and back border before the temps start heating up too much.<br />
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Seem more <a href="http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/2017/03/garden-bloggers-bloom-day-march-2017.html" target="_blank">Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day posts</a>, hosted by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.<br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span></div>
Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-28798603876443254402017-03-02T19:49:00.000-06:002017-03-02T19:49:12.028-06:00Spring has Sprung!<span>Ooops! How time flies! I can't believe I didn't post anything at all in February! Although, truth be told, all I would have had to show you would have been weeds!</span><br />
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<span>Since I was out of commission so much last year, with my surgeries and recuperations, the weeds really got the upper hand in the island beds (and the back lawn, come to think of it).</span><br />
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<span>I've been making a concerted effort to get them back under control again, at least in the island beds, before we go ahead and add some more soil amendments and mulch. One thing I love about my new job -- I'm home by 5:15, so even now I can get outside and spend a little time weeding when I get home from work. Unlike my old job where I didn't get home until 7 pm because of the awful commute.</span><br />
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<span>So now I'm beginning to see some signs of spring, I thought I'd show you some photos, but before I get to those, here are some photos of our winged visitors.</span><br />
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I love this photo of a pair of Mourning Doves. At least, I assume they are a pair. They hung out by the feeders and bird bath for a couple of hours together, whereas usually, there's a flock of them.<br />
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<span>Here's another spring visitor -- a female Red-Winged Blackbird, if I'm not mistaken. Amazingly, there weren't any males around the afternoon I took this.</span><br />
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<span>I haven't seen any bluebirds taking interest in the new nesting box I bought especially for them after I had one pecking at the bedroom window a few weeks ago. </span><br />
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<span>But could something be showing an interest in nesting in this shelf?</span><br />
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<span>Hard to tell whether the leaves just got blown in there by the wind, or whether someone is making a nest. I'll have to check it out tomorrow and see if there's any progress on it.</span><br />
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<span>And finally - the signs of spring I mentioned! The Turk's Cap, that I had given a drastic hair cut, is sprouting like crazy. I need to get after the ant hill in the bed, and also the millet or whatever it is that is sprouting all through that area (I put bird seed out on the wall right above it)</span><br />
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<span>I even have some color in the garden, courtesy of several dianthus that weren't fazed by our December freezes.</span><br />
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<span>I believe these seedlings are Cleome. They're coming up in the general area of where I had Cleome growing last year, so I hope that's what they are.</span><br />
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And in this area of the island bed I've got some Cosmos that self-seeded from last year and elsewhere are some Achillea that self-seeded from underneath the Vitex tree.<br />
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<span>In addition, I'm seeing signs of life in most of the Lantana, but alas, not the Milkweed. I may have to make a trip to Plants for All Seasons and see if they have any on Saturday.</span><br />
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<span>This last photo is of another little winged visitor I spotted on the dianthus. I have no idea what variety of butterfly this is and haven't been able to ID it. If anyone knows, please let me know.</span><br />
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<span>So, for now my main tasks are of the clean up variety. I've still got a lot of weeding to do in one of the island beds and the veggie bed. Then we can add some soil amendments and mulch. (It's amazing how the level of the soil has dropped since we first built the beds.) But I'm determined to get ahead of the weeds this year, so keeping up with them isn't such a chore in the heat of summer.</span><br />
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<span><i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i></span>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-39662724666630348352017-01-29T10:25:00.000-06:002017-01-29T17:29:16.138-06:00May the Bluebird of Happiness Wake You Up in the Morning!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I was enjoying a rare lie-in this morning, when all of a sudden the peace was shattered by a clattering at the window and the cats going on full alert.</div>
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At first I thought it was a bird strike and I looked out the window expecting to see the sad sight of a dead or injured bird on the lawn outside.</div>
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But then I heard more scratching and realized there was a bird on the windowsill outside and he was busy pecking at his reflection in the window.</div>
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Here's a view from the inside -- can you see him?<br />
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I grabbed my camera and put my slippers on and stepped out into the cold morning to investigate.<br />
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It was a bluebird! I have very rarely seen these birds, and funnily enough one other time I saw one, it was having a fight with its reflection in my car window, when the car was parked at the stables.<br />
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This one was quite intent on winning it's little battle and spent about 10 minutes hopping about and pecking at the window.<br />
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I stood outside in the cold and snapped a few photos, before heading back indoors to warm up.<br />
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Here's a view from the inside again - video this time! This video never loaded properly on Blogger, so I ended up uploading it to YouTube.com and linking to it there. At least you can see it now!</div>
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I enjoy these little unexpected interactions with nature. Even though our neighborhood is all built in now, and my "Country Garden" would be better described as "Suburban Lot", I'm glad that we do still get birds and other wildlife around.<br />
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I'm a bit late, but I'm linking this post up with <a href="http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2017/01/saturdays-critters-163.html" target="_blank">Saturday's Critters</a> hosted by Viewing Nature with Eileen and also with <a href="http://camera-critters.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Camera Critters</a><br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-52905582655026646732016-12-30T11:32:00.000-06:002016-12-30T17:04:07.924-06:00New Year's Monarch!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've been keeping a close eye on our house guests since my last post. I had to make several trips round the garden to clip more milkweed for the hungry caterpillars. And in the process I inadvertently brought a few more indoors along with the milkweed!</div>
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I ended up with a total of 13.</div>
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Thankfully they all pupated without any problems and I no longer had to scour the garden for greenery for they.</div>
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Yesterday I noticed one of them was turning color and by the time I took this photo last night, another one was starting to turn color as well.</div>
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Over the course of the morning I went into the bathroom to check on them several times, but of course I missed the actual moment of eclosing! <br />
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When I went in there just now, this beautiful Monarch was hanging from its empty chrysalis, drying out its wings.<br />
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I'll be cutting up some fruit, such as grapes and melon, and putting it on a saucer to feed the butterfly until it's ready to be released. I learned that little trick from a wonderful Facebook group I found -- <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/452931438236021/" target="_blank">Monarch and Milkweed Network, Houston, Texas area</a>. <br />
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So -- one down, 12 more to go! Happy New Year!!!<br />
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<i><b>Update:</b> A couple of hours after I published this blog, the second butterfly emerged. Here he/she is still unfolding their wings!</i><br />
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<i>Update 2: We have one boy and one girl so far. Here they are having just been introduced to some nice juicy cantaloupe. I hope they like it!</i><br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-78652698874872330532016-12-21T11:51:00.000-06:002016-12-21T12:25:47.453-06:00On the First Day of Winter -- We Have Monarch Caterpillars!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Recently we had a cold front come through our little corner of Texas. Check out that thermometer reading on our patio!</div>
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We had a couple very cold days and freezing nights that had me going round the garden rescuing Monarch caterpillars and snipping milkweed for them to graze on in my Big Cube mesh cage which I have set up in one of our bathrooms. </div>
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(Don't worry, this bathroom also has a walk in shower and we have another bathroom also, so we *have* been able to bathe ourselves!!)</div>
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Today though, the skies were clear and a peek at the outdoor thermometer told me it was much milder so I took a stroll around the garden and what did I find? Yup - more caterpillars!!<br />
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I was amazed that they had made it through the freeze but they seemed okay and were chomping away. I decided to let Mother Nature take care of these as I already have a total of 12 caterpillars/chrysalides indoors to keep an eye on and not much milkweed left.<br />
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While I was strolling round the garden enjoying the warm sun, I saw a Monarch butterfly float through, but didn't get a photo. I did, however, get a photo of this little bee, enjoying the Salvia Evolution (or perhaps it's the Pineapple Sage, I got those two mixed up when I planted them all together)<br />
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Can you see him, right in the middle of the photo? (Click on the pic to see the larger version)<br />
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Two or three days ago, I would have believed you if you told me it was the first day of winter, but today, the actual Winter Solstice and official First Day of Winter? No -- feels like a lovely spring day!! Only in Texas!!<br />
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Now if you'll excuse me, I need to do some weeding....<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-16727343944035920122016-12-12T10:25:00.000-06:002016-12-12T10:25:55.394-06:00The Garden in WinterWell here we are in the middle of December, just a couple of weeks away from Christmas, and there are still flowers blooming in the garden!<br />
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I had been lamenting with my dad on the phone that the garden was past it's best and was looking ratty. But when I went out and had a look around, I was surprised to see how much was actually blooming.<br />
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While the drifts of orange Profusion zinnia that once filled most of the island beds are now dead and brown, there are still a surprising number of flowers in evidence. <br />
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The Salvia Evolution that I started from seed in the spring was a real winner this year, and is still going. Interestingly, I planted red and white, but only the red came up. The pink and white Vinca is still with us too, while the Cosmos and Cleome have long gone to seed.<br />
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This dense patch is a favorite hangout of the local sparrows, who hide in there for hours, scratching around for seeds. And, of course, the hummingbirds enjoyed the tubular red flowers.<br />
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Another bird favorite is the purple Fountain Grass. In spring many of the plumes showed evidence that they were providing nice cozy nest linings, and the birds seem to like poking around in it for bugs as well.<br />
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The other island bed got overrun with Bermuda grass this year, as it seems to every year. With the two major surgeries I had this year, along with instructions not to do any bending, I wasn't able to keep up with it. Even though it's overrun with grass, there are still some flowers hanging on, such as the pink Vinca and yellow Lantana in the photo above.<br />
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I've also still got quite a lot of milkweed, which is good because one of our neighbors put out a call in our neighborhood Facebook group last week that she needed some milkweed to feed the Monarch larvae that her grandsons had in their terrarium. I was able to take her some cuttings (and while I was snipping, I found a couple of caterpillars that I brought in and set up in my Big Cube cage as we were expecting a freeze. As you can see, some of the milkweed is even still blooming and, a bonus at this time of year, it's not covered in aphids!<br />
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We've had some strange weather recently. We've had at least one frost where I thought I might have lost some plants, but surprisingly, they survived. We also had a couple of nights with temps below freezing, but no frost. The plants made it through that too.<br />
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That *may* have been our winter for the year, yesterday the temperature with back in the 70's!<br />
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And finally, the Bottlebrush bush is looking quite festive with it's bright red "brushes". These seem to be a favorite of bees. I wouldn't have expected that but, back in the summer, it was always covered in happy bees. The Savannah holly is looking festive too, with its bright green leaves and red berries. There was enough that I was able to take some trimmings to add to our Christmas decorations on the mantelpiece.<br />
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I've got one final surgery scheduled for tomorrow. Luckily this is a minor procedure to insert a coil into the last aneurysm. I'll be in hospital overnight and then back home for a few days' rest.<br />
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In case I don't get around to blogging again before Christmas, let me take this opportunity to wish you and your families a very Merry Christmas and the best of the Holiday Season.<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-58868545845731278102016-10-09T17:51:00.000-05:002016-10-09T18:08:11.845-05:00A Perfect Day in Fall<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It seems that fall may have finally arrived in my little corner of the world. The skies are clear and the temperatures dropped into the 50's overnight! Right now it's a very pleasant 75 degrees with low humidity. I probably should be doing more actual work out there than I am -- all I've done is a bit of weeding to get rid of the ever encroaching nutsedge and bermuda grass in the island beds.</div>
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But I'm also taking the opportunity to sit on the patio and read and enjoy the sights of the garden without sweating. It's all the same stuff I've shown you before - zinnia and cosmos, salvia and cleome. But now we have lots of winged visitors too (in addition to my own contributions in the form of newly hatched Monarchs)</div>
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I've had wonderful success with this Big Cube cage I got this year. In addition to the 9 Monarchs I was able to hatch in August, we ended up with another 15 chrysalides in the cage and 6 have hatched in the past two days!</div>
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This is one of the newly hatched Monarchs, enjoying some nectar before getting ready for the migration. Also in the photo is another visitor - a Gulf Fritillary. We have five or six of them hanging around at the moment.</div>
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Below is a short video of the same scene :-)</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwHRZa3dDumjIVd4I3oGG-SqmLp3xGtZlMh7K1JYdjnFhjYm0ZBwYjPNAkEmGxCJUxSw2XzCcGComWy87IRLg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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Below is another visitor we see at this time of year - a buckeye. Those markings really do look like eyes, don't they? This one seems a little ragged, but he's not letting it slow him down :-)</div>
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And finally here's another video I took showing some of the Gulf Fritillaries enjoying the zinnia.<br />
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As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going in for surgery on Tuesday October 11th. It's rather major surgery, so I probably won't be posting in my blog for a while. I'm so glad I got to see some of the butterflies hatch before I went in, and my husband promises he will keep an eye on the other chrysalides and release them once they have hatched.
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I'll see you on the other side!
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-31157367807482623452016-10-01T11:46:00.000-05:002016-10-01T11:47:31.585-05:00The End of Summer and Even More MonarchsOoops - it's been a month since my last post! There really hasn't been a lot going on to share with you. The Profusion Zinnias, which overflowed the island beds all summer are starting to go to seed and look a bit ragged, but the Gulf Fritillaries and other butterflies are still enjoying them.<br />
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Ditto the Cleome. I collected lots of seeds from each of them, so I'll have plenty to share next spring :-)<br />
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The Salvia splendens took up the western half of the island bed and is still going strong.That's the first time I've had much success with salvia. This variety has small red flowers that I have seen the occasional hummingbird taking a sip at. I've never had luck with the blue/purple varieties though.<br />
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The Cosmos, which was just feathery foliage all summer is suddenly a mass of pink flowers. I must never have paid attention to when it bloomed before. I thought it was a summer bloomer, but it's here now and looks lovely.<br />
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But the most exciting thing going on in the garden at the moment is the number of Monarch caterpillars and chrysalides I have in the Big Cube cage I purchased back at the beginning of the summer.<br />
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I've got a total of 16 in the cage - more than I had back in August! They have been eating me out of house and home but luckily I have some healthy stands of milkweed in the garden that I can take cuttings from. I just have to make sure there aren't any cats already there when selecting cuttings!<br />
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I'm going to be going in to hospital for surgery on October 11th, so I hope I shall see some of them eclose before I go in. Then my husband is going to take over the Monarch husbandry after that. <br />
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At least they should all have pupated by then, so he won't have to pick milkweed for them. He'll just have to check daily for new butterflies and release them from the cage when they are ready.<br />
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I'm linking my post up with <a href="http://www.camera-critters.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Camera Critters</a>. Please take a few minutes to visit and see what other critters stories and photos people are sharing.
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/">Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3822343629005349934.post-66816553467943311892016-08-31T18:54:00.000-05:002016-08-31T19:29:08.367-05:00Hummingbird Preview at Kleb WoodsWe experienced some brutally hot weather at the beginning of August, which of course is no surprise in Texas. However low pressure and rain showers made the latter half of the month quite pleasant, by comparison. The temperatures dropped from around the 100's (we had five days of 100+ temps) to the low- to mid-90's.<br />
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So Eric and I decided to douse ourselves with bug spray and head out to <a href="http://www.pct3.com/parks/kleb-park/" target="_blank">Kleb Woods Nature Reserve</a>.<br />
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They will be having a Hummingbird Festival on September 10th, but we knew there would probably be plenty of hummers at their feeders already. <br />
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We weren't disappointed :-) The Nature Center has a nice big shady wrap-around porch and feeders are hanging under the eaves about 10 feet apart, more or less at eye level for viewers on the porch.<br />
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It's very pleasant to sit or stand in the shade while the hummers zip around between the feeders and among the bushes in the garden.<br />
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As always, you can click on the images to see a larger view. Given the diminutive stature of these little gems, that's probably the best way to see them :-)<br />
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I lost count of the total, but there were perhaps 10 or more. Most were Ruby-Throats, which is what we see in our back yard habitat.<br />
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We spent a very pleasant half-hour watching them cavorting about and at times there were three or four on a feeder. (We never get that at home, there's always that one who thinks the whole yard is his and sees off all the rest).<br />
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As we watched them, I suddenly realized that they weren't ALL Ruby-throats. I kept seeing flashes of russet as one particularly aggressive little hummer dive-bombed his more sedate companions. I should qualify that by saying I meant more sedate by comparison. You couldn't really call any hummingbird *sedate*.<br />
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I tried and tried to get a photo of this little whirling dervish, hoping he would settle on a feeder. But he was more interested in making sure the others kept their distance than actually taking a sip of nectar himself.<br />
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This was the best I could do. It's a Rufous hummingbird - the first I have ever seen. You can see his victim in the top right hand corner of this shot, LOL.<br />
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Finally, here's a short clip of video that I took -- only about a minute's worth.<br />
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We're certainly going to try and make it to the Hummingbird Festival as they are a lot of fun and very informative. <br />
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If you are in the area from 9 am to 3 pm, on Saturday September 10th, do try to stop by. Here's a <a href="http://www.pct3.com/docs/news/hummingbird.pdf" target="_blank">flyer with more information</a>.<br />
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<i>Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, <a href="http://jaynescountrygarden.blogspot.com/"> Jayne's Country Garden</a>.</i>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09993407315693699146noreply@blogger.com3