Green and Serene - Jayne's Country Garden

Squirrels in the Rain

2012-02-05T13:31:00.001-06:00

I got woken up by a pretty spectacular thunderstorm Saturday morning. Not that I'm complaining, we certainly will take all the rain we can get!

I was surprised to notice, while I was having breakfast, that there was a squirrel out on the feeder, getting soaked, but enjoying the goodies in the feeder, which I just filled up the day before.

He was still out there an hour or so later, when the rain had let up a bit and the sky was a bit brighter, so I was able to get some photos. If you click on the photo to see the full size, I think you can see the rain drops.

Suddenly I realized there wasn't just one squirrel out there. Another one was on the ground under the feeder, picking up seeds and nuts that had dropped. As I appeared at the door with my camera, this second one scooted across the lawn and up the pine tree.

It wasn't until I downloaded the photos that I realized the squirrel appeared to be saying grace!

I'm keeping the feeder full, I hope they stay around.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Miscellaneous Musings

2012-01-30T20:27:00.000-06:00

After last year's drought, I have a tendancy to get excited if we get any significant amount of rainfall.

Imagine my joy then, when we got over three inches last Wednesday. Of course the problem with getting over three inches of rain in one day is that it tends to lead to flooding. As it happened, we were lucky and by afternoon it had cleared up, so the street flooding that often occurs around freeway off ramps and service roads had, for the most part, cleared up by evening drive time.

I was actually home from work on that day and spent the day indoors, watching the water gushing out of the downspouts and out to the street to the storm drain.

It was raining so hard and so fast that the water started pooling in the back garden and I got worried about flooding.

Eventually though, most of it soaked in to the ground (I'm sure the pine tree was loving it) and the swales around the house took the excess water out to the street too and out to the storm drains.

The sight of the steady stream of runoff between the houses to the street got me thinking about something else I read about last week.

As I watched the steady stream of runoff water, I felt relieved to note that I don't use any kind of chemicals on the yard, so we weren't contributing any pollutants to the local streams and rivers through the storm drain system.

Fellow gardeners have probably heard about the proposed partnership between NWF, National Wildlife Federation and Scotts Miracle-Gro in NWF's Be Out There program, aimed at getting kids outside and reconnected with the outdoors and with nature.

There was a firestorm of opposition in various blogs around the internet, as well as on Facebook and Twitter from people who couldn't understand why an organization which condemns the use of pesticides and other chemicals in the garden and promotes gardening for nature would partner with the company which makes its money selling said pesticides and chemicals, such as Round Up.

Now I'll admit, I've used Miracle-Gro on my houseplants and a few years ago I spent way too much money having Scotts come out quarterly and treat the lawn, before I learned about the benefits of organic gardening.

I've even got Miracle-Gro Organic Choice fertilizer in the garage now and use it, and I feed the birds in the garden with Scotts No-Mess Patio Blend seed, which they relish.

So I'm not totally anti- Scotts or Miracle-Gro, but I did feel a little disappointment that my recently NWF-certified wildlife habitat was now a little tainted by the association with Scotts in the minds of many gardeners.

I read later in the week that an issue had come up involving a pending legal settlement that Scotts were involved, dating back to 2008, in which they had not disclosed to NWF.

Because of that pending legal settlement, NWF announced that the partnership would be ended

NWF is still going ahead with the Be Out There campaign, which I highly endorse -- I spent my whole childhood outdoors and loving it and often think how kids today are missing out on something great. I hope the program is a success.

Something that might get myself and my husband outside more in the near future has been the arrival of seemingly every seed and plant catalog in existance!

We're planning a small vegetable garden on the unused east side of the house. It will be raised and will be created using bricks left over from the building of the house, which have been taking up room in our garage since we moved in.

I'll keep you updated as it progresses.

And finally, we added a new birdhouse in the back corner. I think it adds a cottage garden look to the garden.

I hope Mrs. Wren or Mrs. Chickadee like it.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Squirrel Appreciation Day

2012-01-21T10:03:00.000-06:00

Did you know that Saturday, January 21st is Squirrel Appreciation Day?

I know a lot of people consider squirrels to be annoying pests, but I find them entertaining.

When we first moved into this house, I was thrilled to discover resident families of squirrels in the trees on either side of us who regularly visited our garden.

Then began the battle of wits to keep them from tearing apart the bird feeders and stealing all the food for themselves.

Actually it was a short battle because I didn't use actual feeders for very long. I discovered in our first summer here that, no matter where I put the feeders, they got soaked every time the sprinklers ran.

It got to be a chore to bring them all down the night before the sprinklers ran, and I was always forgetting, so in the end I did away with feeders, for the most part.

I took to sprinkling seed along the top support rail of the fence and the top of the back wall and, as you can see here, the birds and the squirrels were happy to share.

I also gave the squirrels a feeder of their own and I love watching them lift the lid and reach inside for their goodies. It was amusing watching the birds around it too. One day I watched as a woodpecker perched by it and picked out corn, piece by piece, and toss it to the ground!

It's rather sad to say that we rarely see squirrels here anymore. We used to have trees on either side, and a row of trees along the road behind us, so the squirrels had plenty of habitat. That's all gone now, except for the trees in our garden.

But I still keep the squirrel feeder filled and occasionally one will come to visit. I hope they know they are welcome here.

7 Ways to Celebrate Squirrel Appreciation Day from the National Wildlife Federation.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Let's Go Plant Some Donut Seeds!

2012-01-19T16:32:00.000-06:00

This cracked me up - I had to share!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Rebirth in the Garden

2012-01-07T12:04:00.000-06:00

Back in December, in my post Requiem for a Garden, I lamented that my garden had been damaged by the recent freezing nights and had gone from green to brown, seemingly overnight.

I wondered if it I should leave everything be, or pull it out of the ground. Among the suggestions was one from Cindy, that if things were black and mushy, to cut them back to healthy green stem.

New Year's weekend the weather was so glorious it made me forget all about the drought-ridden dog days of summer in Texas. I couldn't wait to get out there and get started on my garden clean up!

These are the kind of days that I'm happy to garden in Texas. I savored the winter sunshine on my back (and the fact that I wasn't sweating) and the quietness around me. All I heard were birds, the snip, snip of my secateurs, and the occasional small plane going overhead from nearby Hooks Airport.

Back to the task at hand, looking around the front garden it was immediately apparent that the milkweed fit right into the "mushy black" category.

But what a pleasant surprise I had as I set about trimming them back....

... they are already putting out lots of fresh green leaves! There should be lots of plants ready for the Monarch butterflies when they come through.

I found similar sights as I trimmed back the lantana...

... and the garden mums..

I even have some flowers in the garden (not counting the pansies which have been blooming faithfully since before Thanksgiving as always)

This Gazania, or Treasure Flower, kept firm and green, while others around it turned to mush and has flowered repeatedly through the winter. I really haven't paid much attention to it before, but it really is a "Treasure" to have in the garden.

Lastly, this garden mum, which I trimmed back a little while ago, already has blooms on it. I seem to have an orange theme going on in the front garden which is totally accidental!

Anyway, I'm posting this a week after I took these photos and it's lovely outside again now. I'm getting that itch to garden again -- and there are some more black and mushy things out there awaiting my attention.

I'm going to head outside now and I'll sit and catch up on my blog reading later on this evening.

Happy Gardening everyone!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

A Gardener's Christmas Present

2011-12-31T17:36:00.000-06:00

This year, for Christmas, my husband got me a tractor scoot from Gardener's Supply Company. It wasn't a random choice on his part -- he asked what I wanted and I told him!

Today I got a chance to try it out and I love it!

It features a tractor style seat, which swivels, pneumatic tires, an area underneath the seat to hold tools etc and a basket on the front which you can put a bucket in to hold mulch, plants, trash/weeds etc.

I've been having knee problems this year, which has made gardening somewhat difficult, but this little tractor scoot really helps me out, as you can see below.

Today's task was cutting back all the tropical milkweed which had frozen back. I was able to trim it back to healthy green stems about 8 inches tall and it's already putting out new leaf buds.

I also did some weeding and mulching. There were several zillion milkweed seedlings in this bed, along with the crepe myrtle and the established milkweed. I don't have room for them all so most of them got dug in and mulched over.

If they manage to come back up, I'll take that as a sign I was meant to have more milkweed.

Tomorrow, after we take our Christmas lights down, I'll work in the front flowerbed. It needs some serious tidying up!

I wish you all a safe and Happy New Year. I'll see you in 2012, when I'll be out in the garden again!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Merry Christmas All!

2011-12-24T10:23:00.000-06:00

We always love decorating the house for Christmas but last year, for the first time since I can remember, I didn't have a Christmas tree.

The reason was the four kittens we had taken in, along with their mother, in the summer of 2009. They had shown, while they were still out in the garden, that they loved climbing trees. In addition, when we brought them inside, within a few days Jester had tried to climb the silk ficus tree in the bedroom, with the result that the whole thing toppled over.

We could only imagine what would happen to a Christmas tree.

And then, of course, you only have to Google "cat in Christmas tree" to see our concerns.

Well this year we decided one year without a tree was enough and that perhaps they had matured enough (and perhaps learned from the ficus incident that these indoor trees couldn't be trusted to stay upright) so we thought we'd put up a small tree this year. By placing it on a table we hoped to discourage investigation and climbing.

Naturally Jester, the class clown, was first to investigate but two feet stayed on the ground at all times.

And, after sniffing at it for a while, they decided it was boring and went back to wrestling on the kitchen floor or chasing each other up and down the cat tree and all was well with the Christmas tree for a couple of days.

Then came the morning when I heard crrrrraaaaaaash! from the living room and heard the sound of cats zooming in all directions.

Bandit, seen here, looked at me with a "I didn't touch it, honest!" look.

The suspected culprit, the aforementioned Jester, was shaking in the far corner of the room.

We surmise he had been patting at the tree and got a claw caught in the wiring for the lights and, when he pulled his paw out, pulled the tree down with it. Poor little guy was obviously spooked.

I decided to give it another try so we stood the tree back up (secured this time with velcro so it won't be so easy to knock over) and put the ornaments back on.

This morning the tree is still standing and the cats are showing no interest. Fingers crossed it makes it through the Holiday!

I wish each and every one of you the very best of the Holiday Season and look forward to a wonderful New Year.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Requiem for a Garden

2011-12-11T09:26:00.001-06:00

We've had a couple of nights of hard frost recently and yesterday I was finally able to take a tour around the garden. It was depressing, to say the least. I know things will brighten up again in spring, but I thought I'd share the sad sight with you.

In the front garden the sweet potato vine is now brown mush.

In the back, the milkweed which were blooming up until last week are now shriveled up.

On the plus side, with their dying breaths, they let loose a zillion more seeds! (To add to the zillion or so seedlings poking up through the mulch and in the lawn all around them)

The Dallas lantana, that until a week or so ago were providing sustenance to Buckeyes and Gulf Fritillaries, are now history.

The Trop-Canna froze back, like they did last year. I think all I need to do with these is cut them back and they will come back next year. I may have move them in to a bigger pot at some point though, this one looks pretty cramped in this pot.

Even the crepe myrtle suffered freeze damage.

The only spot of color are the pansies I put in at Thanksgiving. Hopefully they will continue to bloom until spring.

Now I have a question for you -- seeing all this devastation around the garden, I'm itching to get out there and start tidying up. But I'm wondering how much is too much.

Should I rip the dead milkweed out of the ground to let the seedlings take their place, or should I cut them back look forward to new growth in the spring?

What about the lantana? Does it put out new growth after freezing back, or is it gone for good?

Any and all advice will be appreciated.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The New Island Bed

2011-12-04T10:01:00.000-06:00

If you were to believe my husband's Facebook posts regarding our fledgling island bed in the back garden, you would think that I had stood over him with a whip as he lugged 500 two-ton rocks round to the back garden, and then filled the resulting bed with enough dirt to fill the Grand Canyon.

Luckily we share the same sense of humor!

In reality, we purchased 30 shoebox-sized blocks from Lowe's, each weighing maybe 15 lbs. So yes, there was a little muscle involved, but it felt good to be outside and doing something during the Thanksgiving week.

The plan was to create an island bed connecting the two tree saplings we have planted.

We started out by laying a soaker hose to get the basic shape. Then, since we were going to be using the "lasagna method" we cut and laid out sheets of brown paper over the existing grass.

Then we started laying the stones out, following the shape we had chosen with the soaker hose.

We soaked the paper down and laid bricks in strategic places to keep the paper from blowing away before we were finished, then we left it for a few days.

We finished up the basic bed yesterday, by purchasing 12 bags of Organic Choice garden soil, again from Lowe's. This was what my husband referred to as "enough dirt to fill the Grand Canyon." Wouldn't he have been shocked if I had had a truck load of dirt delivered and dumped on the driveway, as I briefly considered doing!

Of course, 12 bags is just the start. We brought them in, opened them and spread the soil over the paper in the bed and soaked everything down again.

Here's what the bed looks like now.

During the course of the winter, we'll bring in some more soil, add some compost from our composter and add a layer of mulch. The plan is to build up the center of the bed, while not burying the trees already in the ground at each end of the bed.

By spring it should be ready for planting.

After we had finished up with the soil and gone in for a shower, I discovered a little extra bonus that I hadn't thought about before:

We'll have a lovely view of the bed from our bedroom window.

The cats should enjoy it too, as they sit on the little window shelf we put in for them, and watch the birds and butterflies.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Our Certified Wildlife Habitat

2011-11-13T10:25:00.000-06:00

When we moved in here three years ago, we knew that the wooded lots either side would be cleared for homes, which they were this past summer. My plan for the garden was to create a habitat that would be pleasant for us to enjoy working and relaxing in, which would also provide the necessities for birds, butterflies and other wildlife.

It's still a work in progress, but we've made a start and I'm proud to announce that our garden just received it's official recognition as a Certified Wildlife Habitat from the World Wildlife Federation.

In order to be certified, a property has to provide food, water, cover and places for wildlife to raise their young.

Even though, in my opinion, our garden has a long way to go, it does provide these basics already.

We have lots of nectar producing plants for bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. In addition, I keep the bird feeders filled and the birdbaths filled with clean, fresh water daily.

The border we put in along the back wall provides cover, with a variety of shrubs. I love sitting on the patio watching birds scratching around in the mulch underneath the wax myrtle, or under the feeders by the holly bushes.

Two years in a row, Mockingbirds have chosen to build their nests in the small live oak trees we have in the front garden. We've also hosted a Carolina wren on the back patio for two years in a row.

Our garden and feeders are regularly visited by Northern Cardinals, who I think nest in the hedgerow on the other side of the street behind our house. To encourage them to nest in our garden, I recently purchased a Cardinal bird house from Duncraft. We need to decide where to put it and get it up and ready for the cardinals to inspect before nesting season rolls around.

As I mentioned before, our wildlife habitat is still a work in progress. There's lots more to be done yet, but our neighbors don't need to worry that we'll be turning our garden into a jungle. We'll keep it neighbor-friendly too.

The National Wildlife Federation have lots of tips for creating a beautiful wildlife garden:

Neighbor Friendly Wildlife Gardening -- how to keep your neighbors AND the wildlife happy :-)

Cut Your Lawn in Half -- we'll be using some of the tips in this article and creating some island beds which will give me more room to plant colorful flowers etc., while at the same time getting rid of the vast sea of lawn which currently surrounds our house.

So, with this certification, and also the Monarch Waystation certification that I mentioned last week, my dream of having a wildlife habitat is coming true. All we have to do now is continue what we have started!

(Poor Eric is having nightmares of having to haul tons of rock home from the store to create the island bed for the butterfly garden!)

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Benefits of Gardening

2011-11-09T19:46:00.000-06:00

Janie at Loch Ness Water Gardens invited me to post this intriguing infographic on my blog this week.

I have always known that gardening and being out in nature was good for my soul. Now here's proof that it's good for the body too, not to mention the benefits to the enironment.

If you click on the graphic below, you can see it full size, and read the text. (You may have to click a couple of times, depending on how Blogger is feeling today)

Source by Loch Ness Water Gardens

Fall Colors in the Garden

2011-11-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

The Houston area typically doesn't get the spectacular displays of fall color that New England is famous for.

Many of our trees stay green year round and those that do lose their leaves seem to just drop them without fanfare. It seems to me that one of the most colorful "fall color" trees we see at this time of year is the invasive chinese tallow tree.

Other than the Chinese Tallow, much of the "fall color" we're seeing is actually the rusty brown of dead trees that succumbed to the drought and/or pine bark beetle damage. So sad - acres and acres of dead trees.

On a more cheerful note, last weekend I was able to capture some photos of fall colors in our garden, seen in both the flora and the fauna.

First is the front border, which is absolutely overflowing with tropical milkweed. Incidentally, last week I applied to have our property certified as a Monarch Waystation. I'm excited to make this commitment to providing habitat for migrating monarch butterflies and can't wait for the plaque to arrive.

Here's a Monarch, enjoying our hospitality :-)

And here's our insurance that we'll have plenty of tropical milkweed for next year's generation of Monarch butterflies.

Monarch butterflies aren't the only "fall color" in our garden at this time of year. The Gulf Fritillaries are quite abundant right now, seemingly unfazed by the summer drought.

This one is enjoying the Buddleia in the back garden.

This one is enjoying the lantana in the front garden.

I was very happy to see this Buckeye too, dressed in his own fall colors, with the striking eye pattern on his wings.

Last year Buckeyes were very common in the garden, but this is the first I have seen this year. As I get out in the garden this weekend, I hope I see more of them.

In addition to having our garden certified as a Monarch Waystation, it also became a Certified Wildlife Habitat, something I'll tell you more about in a future blog post.

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Gardening!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Singing the Praises of Vitex and an Unusual Night Visitor

2011-10-27T21:55:00.001-05:00

I was sitting on the patio, drinking my morning coffee on Saturday and noticed lots of movement around the Vitex. As I looked closer, there were at least five Monarchs nectaring on the remaining Vitex blooms.

Of course, I couldn't get them all in one photo, but if you click on this photo to see it full size, you can see two Monarchs in it.

It's funny to think that I'd never even heard of Vitex before I walked in to Southlands Nursery on FM 2920 outside of Tomball, Texas (Now From Rocks to Roses ) and asked for suggestions for shrubs that would attract wildlife such as butterflies.

The lady there suggested a Vitex, also known as Chaste Tree, Lilac Chaste Tree and Monk's Pepper.

I thought it a bargain at $15 as it was in a large container and they had to hack it back quite severely so I could get it in my car. I was a little concerned about that but they assured me it would be fine and sure enough it took off like gangbusters.

It's in its third year here and is now 15 ft tall and has been blooming on and off all summer.

Butterflies love it, hummingbirds love it. *I* love it!

Speaking of butterflies, my husband and I were enjoying a glass of wine on the patio late on Saturday evening when suddenly something, we presumed a moth, started flapping around in the ceiling fans up by the lights.

We realized quickly it wasn't a moth, but a Monarch, although I didn't think they would still be flying around after dark. It was flying erratically, obviously confused by the lights and I think it got hit by the ceiling fan at one point.

After a few minutes it landed at my feet and just sat there. I was able to gently grasp it's wings and walked it out in to the garden away from the lights and let it go. However, within minutes it was back, flutttering erratically up by the fan again.

We decided, at that point, to go indoors and turn the patio lights and fans off. As we did, it landed on the window screen and I took a picture before going indoors.

I was late getting up Sunday morning, but I was dismayed when I peeked through the blinds mid morning and saw it was still there, in exactly the same position. I felt sure it had died and was just sort of stuck to the screen.

I opened the back door and was about to reach for it, not exactly sure what I planned to do with it, when to my amazement it fluttered its wings and flew away. I watched and noted it seemed a little unsteady, but perhaps it was just a bit too breezy, but it eventually headed to the Vitex and took some much needed nourishment.

Who know, perhaps this is the same butterfly, photographed later that day on one of the few milkweed plants that hasn't already burst its seedpods all over.

Wonder if we'll ever see caterpillars this year?

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Milkweed Fairies are Ready to Fly

2011-10-16T17:05:00.000-05:00

When I was a child, I used to love catching "fairies" as they drifted through the air and then setting them free, with a breath of air and my best wishes for a good flight.

Back then, of course, the "fairies" were dandelion seeds, with their fluffy white parachutes.

I mentioned a week or so ago that the milkweed in my border were loaded down with seedpods.

I've been watching them, knowing that any day now they would start opening up and the fluffy little "fairies" would catch the breeze and distribute the seeds.

I caught some today, as I noticed some of the seed pods were open. I put them in a paper bag and shook them gently and when I opened the bag, the "fairies" drifted out and away on the breeze, happy to leave their burden of seeds for me to look after till planting time.

I'll probably be collecting seeds for several days, judging from the amount of seed pods! If anyone would like any, please let me know.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Rain! Glorious Rain!

2011-10-09T12:23:00.000-05:00

The weather man has been teasing us with the chance of rain, to the point where we had given up believing that it was possible.

So when I woke this morning, I mistakenly assumed the sound I heard was the air conditioner running. It wasn't until I head the rumble of thunder that I realized that was RAIN I heard, falling on the roof, and running down the downspouts!

So what does a rain-starved gardener do when it rains? She runs out into the garden, barefoot in her pajamas, and starts snapping photos!

I don't have a macro lens, so I wasn't able to get a super close up shot of a raindrop, and this photo of raindrops on the star jasmine is as close as I could get. I like the effect.

At the end of a long, hot summer, the Rose of Sharon, here surrounded by milkweed, is putting on another show of blooms.

The vitex is still blooming too. The Sam Houston peach (front left) and the River Birch (front right) are hanging in and hopefully will show some more growth in the spring.

Look at this! The rain barrel had been completely empty and after one little rain shower - it's FULL!!

Now if Eric and I can only be sure to turn the spigot completely OFF when we use it next, it won't empty overnight again.

Looking closely at the Southern Wax Myrtle, I noticed it was covered in berries. No wonder it's such a favorite with the birds!

Speaking of birds - most of the hummingbirds have moved on, but I noticed there was one still around and I put up a fresh feeder. This morning I saw two out there, playing in the rain and enjoying the feeder.

I'll miss them when they too move on.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Fall is In the Air

2011-10-06T20:25:00.000-05:00

Got an email from my dad on the other side of the Atlantic this week, pointing out that it had been two weeks since I updated my blog and that my readership (presumably he meant him) was waiting.

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.

Wonderful Weekend

2011-09-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

Wow - what a great weekend this has been! OK - for some reason I've been feeling puny for part of it, but the good definitely outweighs the bad.

First of all, Eric and I went to the Hummingbird Festival at Kleb Woods. There was a good turnout of people, not so much from the hummingbirds. As I said yesterday, I think they are all in our garden!

There weren't many hummingbirds to be seen, but there were a couple, to the delight of the eager crowd with binoculars focused on the feeders. And the organizers made sure there was plenty to do, even in the absence of hummingbirds (like last year). There were demonstrations and lectures in the Nature Center, and out by the Kleb house and garden, there were tables set up with various wildlife-inspired games.

The most notable event happened as we went for a walk through the woods. It RAINED! It started out as a gentle rain and then got steadier. By the time we got back to the car, we were pretty wet, but it was such a welcome relief from the endless days of drought, we laughed as we dripped.

When we got home, we could tell it had rained there too. I took a stroll round the garden and could almost feel the relief.

And look who came to visit...

This is the first Monarch I have seen this year. The garden is certainly ready for them - we have some impressive stands of milkweed.

This was still visiting the milkweed on Sunday (and I hope she laid some eggs). She wasn't, however, the only butterfly enjoying the milkweed.

This Pipevine Swallowtail enjoyed an afternoon nectaring on it as well. I wonder if she laid some eggs on the Dutchman's Pipevine I have growing underneath the Southern Wax Myrtle?

On Saturday afternoon, I got up close and personal with a hummingbird in the garden. You could call it a rescue mission.

Since it was cloudy, and not blisteringly hot, I was determined to get some decent photos of the hummers by getting closer to the feeders, rather than taking photos from in side the house.

There were several hummers buzzing around the feeder under the crepe myrtle, but I was shocked by what I saw when I got closer...

One of them had got stuck!!!

I have no idea how she managed to get stuck like this, but after snapping this photo, I carefully put my hand underneath her and lifted her up so she could free her wings and fly out. It was amazing to touch her, she felt so tiny, light and delicate.

Once she was free, she hovered six inches in front of my nose for a few seconds, as if to say thanks, and then took off over my shoulder.

After that, I took lots of photos of them on the feeder, and another short video clip. I wonder if the little one I rescued is among them, or if she is wary of the feeders now? One of the hummers has been enjoying the Dallas Red Lantana, and the milkweed - perhaps that's her. I guess I'll never know.

I think the photo below is my favorite photo:

Looking at these photos, it occurred to me that most of my hummers are girls. There are a couple of males out there, but they are way outnumbered by the females.

So all in all, it was a great weekend. With yesterday's rain and the cooler temperatures, it's easier to believe that fall isn't too far way.

At least I hope it isn't too far away.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Hummingbird Haven

2011-09-17T09:49:00.001-05:00

Eric and I are going to the annual Hummingbird Festival at Kleb Woods today. We went last year, and although we had a great time, there wasn't a hummingbird to be seen! This year seems to be a bumper year for hummingbirds, so there should be plenty of them at Kleb Woods.

Although, come to think of it, they may all be in our garden. How many hummers can you see in the photo below? (click the photo to see the enlarged version).

Now see if you can count them in this video I took this morning.

I have to apologize for the out of focus video - not quite sure what happened, but I think it still gives you an idea of what's going on in Hummingbird Haven :-)

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Rosemary and Thyme

2011-09-14T11:16:00.000-05:00

I got a catalog from AcornTV in the mail the other day. I've never ordered from them before, but I probably got the catalog because I have purchased DVDs of British TV shows from other outlets -- you know how that goes.

Anyway, I was browsing through and came across a British TV detective show called Rosemary and Thyme. I wasn't familiar with the show, since it originally aired from 2003 - 2009 and I moved to the U.S. in 1982.

How's this for the premise for a show?

"Glorious gardens and classic whodunits combine in this hit British series seen on public television" (apparently I missed it there too). "Rosemary Boxer (Felicity Kendall) is a former professor, Laura Thyme (Pam Ferris) is a former policewoman. They share a passion for horticulture and a talent for sleuthing. Filmed in location in English and European countryside settings."

That sounds like something I would enjoy watching, I'm off to order it now!

Rosemary and Thyme - AcornTV Online

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Winged Wonders III

2011-09-10T14:16:00.000-05:00

While I have some uncertainties going on in my life right now, I've been rather distracted and haven't blogged in a bit.

But one thing that has brightened my days recently is the fact that our garden is full of hummingbirds. I've posted about them twice already this season, but I'm just so amazed at how many we have this year.

Here's a minute and a half of video I took of them earlier today, on the patio.

I hope to get back to my regular posting schedule next week.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Winged Wonders II

2011-08-27T11:12:00.001-05:00

At the end of July, I posted about how my garden was thriving, in spite of the heat and the drought.

As we suffer on through August, the garden is winding down now. There's not much blooming at all, except a few lantana in the front border. In the back there are still some milkweed and the crape myrtles are still blooming.

But the star of the show right now has to be the Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii (A. wrightii), known as Flame Acanthus, Hummingbird Bush or the Texas Firecracker plant. It's a Texas native plant, drought and heat tolerant so it's right at home now!

The reason I mention it now is because of the spectacle I witnessed this morning. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves and you'll see why this post is called Winged Wonders II.

As always, you can view the full sized image by clicking on the photos below.

The Flame Acanthus is in the back border, within easy view of our patio. As I sat outside with my morning coffee, a flash of movement drew my attention and I realized that the hummingbirds were out and about. As I watched, three of them darted, swooped, hovered and generally played around the garden, and finally they settled in around the Flame Acanthus.

I just kept clicking - sometimes there was a hummingbird in the shot, sometimes there wasn't!

They really do love the Flame Acanthus and so do I. It survived the onslaught of the kittens in the garden last summer, it survived the freeze this past winter and it's acting as though this summer's heat is nothing.

I need to plant more of these! But in the meantime, the sugar water feeders are out too, to help the hummers prepare for their migration.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Winged Wonders

2011-08-14T13:32:00.000-05:00

Even though we're still locked in the worst drought ever in Houston history, I thought I'd blog about something more cheerful today.

I had seen a hummingbird in the garden a couple of weeks ago. Although I thought it a bit early, I decided to go ahead and put my feeders out. This weekend I have been entertained by at least three hummingbirds zooming around the garden, performing an aerial ballet that wears me out just to watch them.

I've only been able to snap a couple of photos, but I thought I'd share them anyway.

Our pine tree was the perfect place for them to sit and watch guard over the feeders to make sure no other hummingbirds came close. Several times this weekend, I've glanced out the back door to see this little figure up in the tree.

I can never quite figure out how people get those photos of several hummers at the same feeder. The ones in my garden seem to spend all their time chasing each other away from the feeders, even though there were enough feeders to go round.

I was pleased to see that in between taking sips from the feeders I had put out, or chasing/being chased away from those feeders, the hummers also seemed to enjoy the blooms on the crepe myrtle tree and the vitex.

In addition to the hummingbirds, there have been some other winged wonders in the garden this week.

Overall this year, I haven't seen many butterflies, compared to years past, but this weekend saw some activity which I was able to get photos of.

I saw this little skipper on the white Texas Star hibiscus - he was so intent on collecting nectar, he was still there after I had gone indoors, got my camera, put fresh batteries in it and came back outside again.

The "Yellow Gold" lantana in the front garden seem to be favorites of many butterflies, including this Giant Swallowtail...

... and this Gulf Fritillary.

As I look over the monitor of my computer and out the back door, I can just catch a glimpse of my little hummingbird friend, resting in the Crepe Myrtle, next to the feeder. All is peaceful... for now...

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Mission San Jose - part of San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

2011-08-07T23:00:00.001-05:00

On a recent trip to San Antonio, my husband and I went on a self guided tour of some of the historic Missions that make up the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

Specifically, we visited Mission San José, where the visitor's Center is located, Mission San Juan and Mission Concepción.

The park was established to preserve the chain of Spanish missions that were built along the San Antonio River in the 1700s.

We started our tour at Mission San Jose, where these photos were taken.

Around the visitor center and throughout the park, native landscape can be seen and there are impressive cacti and succulents, as well as other native plants which were shrugging off the heat and drought as if it were nothing.

There were informational signs throughout the park, illustrating what the buildings originally looked like, how they were used and detailing life within the Missions during that time.

This is what I meant by "impressive cacti and succulents." These were everywhere!

Mission San Juan is, I think, the most complete of the missions. Not only is the church intact (although it's currently undergoing interior renovations) but the surrounding walls, gates, Indian quarters etc. can still be seen.

Here's the front of the church.

Behind the church are the remains of the convento, where the missionary lived, which had an attractive garden growing in it.

The exterior walls of the Mission compound contained the Indian Quarters, storage rooms and fortifications.

I'm pretty sure this isn't original, but it certainly made a nice shady place to sit and people-watch for a while :-)

In fact, porches with climbing vines seemed to be quite popular.

The main gate was rather imposing, with heavy doors and a row of ports, I guess you would call them, through which marksmen could fire when necessary.

And what's that on the right?

Yup - more cacti, this time growing on a lean-to roof!

Mission San Jose also has a grist mill, now mostly reproduction, and a 270 yr old acequia, or irrigation system.

During this drought, there was virtually no water in the grist mill, although the acequia still held water, much to the delight of these birds.

Here are some snippets of information from the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park web site that you might find interesting:

* Spanish missions were not churches. They were Indian towns, with the church as the focus, where, in the 1700s, the native people were learning to become Spanish citizens. In order to become a citizen, they had to be Catholic; that is why the King of Spain sent missionaries to acculturate them.

* The four mission churches within San Antonio Missions National Historical Park are active catholic parishes, and hold . They are open to park visitors during park hours, except for special services, such as weddings and funerals. (The church at Mission San Jose is currently undergoing renovations, but should be open again by the end of the summer).

And finally, I'll leave you with a couple of photos of plantings outside the Visitor Center.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

All is Not Dead - In Fact, Quite the Opposite

2011-07-26T22:27:00.001-05:00

With the severe drought we're having, I really didn't think I'd have anything to share. But I saw a couple of unexpected surprises in the garden this evening and headed out with the camera. As I snapped shots, I was quite astounded at how well things are doing, considering hot and dry it has been.
Our area is on voluntary water restrictions so I've moderated the sprinkler schedule and it seems to be working. Basically I run the sprinklers in the middle of the night twice a week, and I run them for an abbreviated amount of time, and then repeat. So it's not using any more water than before, but more of the water is soaking in and not running down the street to the storm drain and it's not evaporating as soon as it hits the ground.

I love it and the garden seems to like it as well. As usual, the photos will enlarge when you tap them.

In the repurposed grill-turned-planter, the vinca that I planted has put out a zillion seedlings. Not sure what I'll do with them, but I should be able to get at least a couple of plants going from this lot.

I forget what this is, and apparently didn't make a note in my garden journal (tsk. tsk) It was looking pretty ragged a few days ago, but I trimmed off the dead bits, gave it a drink and it rewarded me with some new flowers.

I suppose I'm going to have to trim the "Scentless Star Jasmine" as we call it. It's growing so rampantly there's almost as much on the other side of the fence as there is on ours. Or perhaps future neighbors won't mind a vine taking over the fence?

Amazingly, in spite of being subject to benign neglect and drying out completely more than once, this petunia is still putting out blooms. I've been deadheading and trying to keep it evenly moist this week and it seems to be thanking me. As I was putting birdseed out early this morning, there was a hummingbird moth nectaring on it which was neat, but I didn't get photos.

Underneath it, I almost missed this bloom on the Tropi-Canna. It looks like there are some more blooms on the way too.

Underneath the Southern Wax Myrtle, this Dutchman's Pipe Vine languished for a long time. Now suddenly it's growing and even flowering (see pic below).

In front of the lattice hiding the phone and cable utility boxes, the bulbine is blooming. I nearly lost this early in the year, so I'm thrilled to see the little blooms on it.

That's all I got photos of today in the back garden. This doesn't include the Rose of Sharon, the Vitex and the Texas Star Hibiscus, which are all still blooming, but I thought it was time to show you the front.

Beside the driveway, this little bed bids you Welcome, and offers a view of the new house being built on the lot.

More rampant plants - this time sweet potato vines. Does anything kill this plant?

And when I looked closer, I spotted this daylily getting ready to rebloom (it even looks like I missed one bloom today)

Elsewhere in the front, lots of Lantana "New Gold" (as well as "White Gold" not shown) Can't kill this stuff either - I love it!

Underneath the seedling Live Oak, a Guallardia "Fanfare" has been blooming for months. I'm resisting the temptation to deadhead it and letting it reseed if it wants to.

Speaking of reseeding - last year's tropical milkweed reseeded everywhere. They seem to be doing well this year and you know what I noticed?

NO UGLY ORANGE APHIDS THIS YEAR! Last year they were COVERED with those nasty things. This year, not a one (YET)

And finally, one more reblooming daylily about to bloom. Please just ignore the raggedy-looking verbena. It needs trimming back, but I've been on the injured list this week and haven't done any weeding at all --- that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Busy Bees

2011-07-17T15:53:00.001-05:00

Stepping out the front door this morning, I noticed that the front flower bed was buzzing with activity.

At first, I thought they were bumble bees, Bombus sp. But as I watched, I realized there was something different about them. Instead of fuzzy, yellow and blacked striped bodies, these had black shiny bodies. After taking these photos, I looked them up and found out they are Carpenter bees, Xylocopa sp.

There were quite a few of them, and they were loving the tropical milkweed.

Unlike termites, Carpenter bees do not eat wood, but they do burrow through it when building their nests. They may have been attracted to the vicinity by all the construction going on either side of us...

Look at all that wood!! They must have felt like they won the lottery!

I'm not to worried about them. Our house has no exposed wood and I think our neighbors won't either, once the houses are finished.

And in the meantime, the bees are pollinating our garden:-)

They were hard at work in the Vitex in the back garden too.

In fact, the Vitex was teeming with life. Bees were buzzing all around me.

Or are they bees? Sure, they have black and yellow stripes, but something doesn't look right to me.

I went online to try and ID them, and didn't find any bees that look like this. Wasn't sure what else to look under and searches for "yellow and black striped insect" brought up lists of beetles.

Anyone have an idea what they are?

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

A Change of Scenery

2011-07-13T10:33:00.001-05:00

A couple of weekends ago, my husband and I flew up to Michigan for my cousin's daughter's wedding on the shores of Lake Michigan.

I was thrilled to get the invitation and also happy that my husband and I were in the position to be able to go. It was a chance to meet family members I haven't seen in forever.

A little history -- I was born and raised in England and moved here in 1982. My mum's sister, my Auntie Beryl, married an American GI on my fourth birthday (I was a bridesmaid) and moved with him to the U.S. Auntie Beryl and Uncle Bob lived first in Tennessee and then Michigan, and had two daughters, my cousins Beverly and Connie. It was Beverly's daughter, Christie, who was getting married.

My mum and dad flew over from England to stay with Beryl and Bob, now retired to Florida, for a few days. Then they all drove up to Michigan for the wedding.

Beryl's other daughter, Connie, and her husband and son, drove up from Cincinnati. In addition, Auntie Beryl's long-time friend, Penny, another English lady who she met in the "Transatlantic Brides Association," drove over from the other side of Michigan where she lives, along with three of her adult children.

It's been 15 years since I have seen many of these people, and even longer since I have seen others. So it was a wonderful reunion weekend.

The new Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Brown

I'm only going to show you a couple of pics of the bride and groom. I know not everyone is comfortable having their photo on the internet, so I'll respect everyone else's privacy, and not post photos of them in my blog. Instead, since it's a gardening blog, I'm going to show you some photos of the locale chosen for the wedding and the beautiful scenery in that part of Michigan.

Christie spent a long time scouting out locations for their wedding. I think she chose the perfect spot.

Michillinda Lodge is a turn of the century country estate, nestled in deep woods, on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

The driveway makes quite an impression. Looking from the road to the Lodge:

Looking back toward the road:

I named my blog "Green and Serene" because that's the feeling I want in my garden (I'm still working on that!!). Michillinda Lodge seemed to ooze serenity and I fell in love with it and would love to get back there for a vacation sometime.

All around the main lodge are many different cottages and guest houses. Mum and dad were staying in one called "Surfside" which, true to it's name, overlooked the lake.

The view from their balcony:

Everywhere we went there were flowerbeds brimming with color. I heard that, although we had beautiful weather when we were there, they had two weeks of rain prior to that!

Each of the cottages/guest houses had it's own character, which made the whole place just delightful to stroll through.

One day, we promised ourselves we would get back up there for a short vacation :-)

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Red, White and Blue

2011-06-29T21:23:00.001-05:00

It's a bit early for a July 4th blog post, but as I was taking photos in the garden recently, I realized that I was starting to get a little patriotic theme going.

The white Texas Star Hibiscus, Hibiscus coccineus 'Alba', a passalong from fellow garden blogger Ursula, has been doing very well. (Ursula will be pleased that I didn't kill it!!)

It's budding like crazy, as is the red one, although so far I haven't managed to catch one of the red ones in full bloom.

These are the best I've managed to get so far. Hopefully there will be more blooms when I am home this weekend.

I have them growing in containers positioned in front of the Rose of Sharon or Althea (Hibiscus syriacus) and the Flame Acanthus or Hummingbird Bush (Anisacanthus quadrifidus var. wrightii) which are growing in the ground. There's also a Hamelia Patens in a container in the same area, although it was hit hard by the winter freezes and it's only now starting to put out tiny buds.

But in the meantime, the Flame Acanthus is in full bloom and is a hummingbird magnet. I was thrilled to snap a photo (from a distance) of a male ruby throat checking out the blooms.

Looking at this little vignette makes me realize -- I need some BLUE plants for my July 4th garden!

Actually, I *do* have an Indigo Spires Sage, but it's clear on the other side of the garden, by the dining room window. I'll have to see what I can do about getting some growing in the back border along with the red and white.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy July 4th.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Wordless Wednesday -- Waiting

2011-06-21T22:42:00.000-05:00

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

New Addition to the Patio

2011-06-19T11:19:00.000-05:00

We are so lucky to have this patio. It's shady for most of the day, allowing me to sit out on weekends and not broil. It's got ceiling fans, making even summer evenings comfortable. My husband and I love to sit out there on Friday and Saturday nights with a bottle of wine (OK -- sometimes two!!)

One thing that could make it even more perfect, I thought, would be the sound of gurgling water, as in a small fountain or other water feature.

At first I was thinking about a pond or fountain out in the garden, but the thought of digging and installing a pond made us think again about that, so nothing was ever done. Then I started considering the possibility of having a small bubbler-type fountain on the patio. So completely on impulse I headed to Lowe's last weekend to peruse their selection.

I walked in to the garden center and cast my eye over the fountains on display and one little one just sort of jumped out and it was as if it had a "Buy Me" sign flashing over it.

It was small, inexpensive, and within 10 minutes it was in the back of my car on the way and on its way home with me.

It's by Allen and Roth, if you're interested, and is called the Three Tier Fountain. It comes with a wrought iron stand, or can also sit on a table. We have it on the stand and surrounded it with greenery.

Click on the above photo to see the full size version and spot the little visitor who particularly enjoys this new addition to the patio -- Kermit, our resident tree frog.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Winds of Change - Progress Report

2011-06-16T21:39:00.001-05:00

It didn't take long for the lot to the east of our house to be cleared. Strangely enough, I'm okay with it.

While in Hobby Lobby at the weekend, I picked up a free handout with instructions for some craft projects that use twigs and branches -- a lattice, some picture frames, a "Garden" sign and a couple of other things. In addition, I found a plan for a rustic gazebo-style bird feeder that I thought would be a nice addition to the garden and my husband volunteered to make for me.

So before they started clearing, we got in there and lopped some saplings and some branches and stored them in our side yard until we get going on the craft projects.

Even though the lot is now cleared (see below) it's like the spirit of the trees will live on as we work on our craft projects and use the objects we make. (Yes, you can call me a tree-hugger)

So today, they started clearing the lot on the other side.

I always liked the way the trees in this lot provided a backdrop for photos of our garden, such as this photo of a volunteer sunflower I took last weekend.

But I had to laugh as my husband told me how the Sweet Gum was fighting them every step of the way.

Apparently the plan was to dig around the roots and then push it over.

Well, that didn't work.

So they ended up using a chain saw to take the tree down, with my husband nervously watching and hoping it didn't land on our house.

And by the time I got home, they were taking a break, but there was plenty of evidence of the battle that had been raging all day.

It's now 9:30 pm, pitch black out there and they are still trying to heave it out of the ground! I suspect that by this time, they are considering a small thermo-nuclear device.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Winds of Change

2011-06-09T21:46:00.001-05:00

We've been spoiled, I suppose you could say, since we moved into our house in 2008. For three years, ours has been the only house on our side of the street, comfortably tucked in between a majestic Liquidambar (Sweet Gum) tree on one side, and a rough but wildlife friendly thicket on the other. The thicket was where the stray/dumped cat, Cali, raised her kittens last summer. It's been home to a procession of squirrels, raccoons, skunks, snakes and other critters, many of which paid us visits on various occasions.

We knew things wouldn't stay like that forever but, since we moved in and the economy tanked, we hoped it would be many years before we lost what we looked on as our personal forest.

Recently though, there has been more activity in the neighborhood. More homes have been going in, a new builder has moved in, (after our builder moved out) and a new model home is going up.

The writing was on the wall earlier this week, when two lots on the next street were cleared.

And today I came home to see this:

And this:

...indications that any day now, our little forest will be history :-(

I just hope they do all the ripping out of trees while I'm at work. I don't think I could stand to be here while it's happening.

On a brighter note, we've got tropical milkweed coming up all over the place, ensuring we'll have plenty to offer the Monarch butterflies when they come through on their migration.

Last year we had lots of Zinna "Profusion" that I hoped would self seed, but I hadn't seen any signs of that so I purchased some more seed which arrived from Park Seed today.

Now look at what I saw while out in the garden today. One of last year's zinnias (and actually I saw two or three of them) has finally self-seeded and was being checked out by a couple of skippers! I'll still go ahead and scatter some seed in the border and I think I'll share the rest with my neighbors.

It's been fun living in Wild America for three years. I can only hope that we still get birds, squirrels, butterflies and other wildlife visiting our garden when we have new homes on either side where once there was wildlife habitat.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

My Sweet Texas Home

2011-06-04T19:34:00.001-05:00

I purchased this resin cowboy boot birdhouse a couple of years ago as a strictly decorative addition to the patio, having seen a similar one in a friend's garden. I certainly wasn't expecting a bird to actually build a nest in it.

As you can see -- I was wrong!

A pair of Carolina wrens spent most of the morning flitting back and forth with bits of grass to add to their nest.

As far as nesting sites go, it's really not too bad.

In it's favor: it's 5 foot up a brick column, so it will be free from predators. Also it's on the east side of that column, under the eaves of the house and sheltered from the hot afternoon sun.

Possible dangers: it's 5 foot up a brick column. If and when the babies fledge, it's a long way down to the ground! I'm also a little worried that it's so deep, the babies won't even be able to get out of it when the time comes.

Maybe the parents will give them a boost to help them out.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Big Picture - How Far We've Come

2011-05-28T14:23:00.001-05:00

I've realized that most of my blog posts show close up photos of individual plants. I don't often show photos showing the "Big Picture." So I was out with the camera today and decided to take photos showing how the garden is coming along, as well as a couple of photos of how it looked when I moved in in the summer of 2008.

As always, if you tap on the photo, you can view a larger version.

Let's start with the "before" photos -- the garden as it was landscaped by the builder. A blank canvas, I guess you could call it.

Here's the front garden, freshly landscaped. Several plants, including holly bushes and the tree closest to the camera here, ended up having to be replaced because they drowned. But in all, the framework works for me. I like the shape of the foundation bed along the front of the house.

In the back garden --- a vast expanse of sod and a vast expanse of cinder block wall. The utility boxes are barely hidden by the holly bushes planted by the builder. Most of these died too.

In the other corner of the garden -- the whole reason we selected this particular lot -- the mature pine tree which casts dappled shade across the garden as the sun moves across the sky.

So -- that's what it looked like in 2008.

Below are some photos of how it looks today:

I don't think I conciously chose plants with blooms in the yellow/orange/red range. It was more of an unconcious choice. Daylilies, lantana, chrysanthemums and achillea provide most of the color in the front.

I've started laying landscape stones across the front, to match the circles around the trees, but have only got about half way across. The rest may have to wait until fall.

In the bed by the garage, more daylilies, as well as sweet potato vine growing on a wrought iron obelisk.

Another view of the front. The tree on the right is one of original two that the builder planted. The one of the left is one we planted to replace the one that drowned. We were very careful to make the hole big enough and to improve the drainage for it and it's rewarding us by growing robustly and even hosting a Mockingbird nest.

Here's momma Mockingbird (or possibly papa, I really don't know!)

And here are the babies -- this photo was taken May 18...

And this was taken on May 25... my, how they have grown!

Moving around to the back garden, my plan originally was to get rid of the "wall to wall carpet" of lawn and I'm making headway on that slowly. As you walk through the gate and into the back garden, this is the view that greets you. I really like this view.

This is my view from the dining room or from the patio. The wall has been a challenge, especially in this area which is full of pine roots and therefore not suitable for planting. For now I have some "Tropi-canna's" in containers but I'm probably going to build a raised section along the wall and get some vines growing.

This view looks toward the utility boxes, again from the patio. Only two of the original holly bushes remain. The white lattice fence I found a Lowe's does a great job of hiding the utility boxes.

The lawn isn't looking great here -- this is probably the worst area in the garden. But I think eventually I will build an island bed here, connecting the two trees we added (a peach and a river birch) and maybe even linking up with the pine tree. That way there would be a mowing path around the edge of the garden and the rest would be beds.

It's getting hot out there already -- supposed to be in the mid-90's all weekend, so I think I'll take up position in the dining room and watch the birds. Such as this red-bellied woodpecker, facing off with a white winged dove over who gets the birdseed. The woodpecker won, by the way!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Daylily Delights

2011-05-22T12:07:00.000-05:00

In that past few weeks, I have showed just a couple of the vibrant daylilies that are blooming in the front garden.

This week I thought I'd show you some more of the varieties I have:

Unfortunately, they will have to remain nameless. When I planted them, I carefully drew a plan of the border and noted which variety was planted where. Alas, the diagram is nowhere to be found, and believe me I have torn my desk apart looking for it!

But that's okay -- name, or no name, the end result is the same -- beauty and vibrant color scattered among the green shrubs in the front border, to greet me when I get home from work.

True to their name, daylily blooms only last a day or so, but there are plenty of new buds waiting to open.

I've tried identifying these with the help of various internet sites, but there are so many varieties, many with subtle differences, I just gave up!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - May 2011

2011-05-15T10:14:00.001-05:00

On the 15th of every month Carol of May Dreams Gardens invites garden bloggers around the world to show what's blooming in their gardens.

I often end up missing GBBD, but as I was browsing blogs this morning, I noticed all the posts, checked my calendar and -- hallelujah! I haven't missed it!

So here's an overview of what is struggling through the drought here in my little patch of Texas.

The daylilies in the front garden are worth their weight in gold. Nothing seems to faze them and, once again, they are delighting me with their vivid, hot colors under the hot summer sun.

Along the wall in the back garden, I have a grouping of containers containing Texas Star Hibiscus, not yet in bloom, Hamelia patens, also not yet in bloom and this lovely little Columbine, which I have never grown before.

I think I finally found a spot that this hydrangea enjoys. It's on the back patio, which faces north, and it's on the east side of one of the columns so it's protected from the harsh afternoon sun that burned it in it's former location. It's rewarding me with blooms :-) This was a pass-along from fellow garden blogger, Ursula and I'm happy to be able to tell her I haven't killed it yet!

This hanging basket is a new acquisition, featuring a Calliope hybrid Geranium and Scaveola "Bombay White". I think I'm probably going to move it from here. It's very lush right now and where it's hanging, if there's the slightest breeze, it's going to get banged against the column. I also don't think it's going to get enough sun here, although the spot does get afternoon sun.

The Vitex, the star of the summer garden, is blooming profusely and is being visited daily by lots of bees, as well as the hummingbirds. I was happy to be able to snap this shot, even though it's not a great photo.

The butteflies are loving it too.

To wrap up today's post, some non-bloom-related photos:

As I was going through some photos, I realized that I had a better photo than one I had posted of the baby wrens that fledged last week, in the crepe myrtle tree. I love his little punk rock hairdo of baby fuzz.

And lastly, this is not something you would normally see in a garden, but this is Texas!

What was he doing in our garden? We assume he was after water. I had used the hose earlier in the day and although I had turned it off, I didn't empty it, so it was dripping a little. In fact I think I must do that a lot because the ground around where the hose pipe is stays a bit damp.

This little guy and his sibling, came for the water, although one of them went on to dig up the flowerbed!

This drought is really affecting everything, not just our gardens but the wildlife too. These two visited two afternoons in a row and then we had a little rainstorm which added water to the local ditches. We haven't seen them since.

I kind of miss them, although not the damage they were doing to the flowerbeds. I appreciated the chanced to get up close and personal with these gentle creatures.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Empty Nest

2011-05-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

I've been keeping a close eye on the baby wrens in the nest on our covered patio and watching Momma Wren come and go tirelessly, finding insects around the garden, and the thicket next door to feed them.

I like to sit on the patio with my morning coffee on the weekends and I had got used to hearing a soft thump as she landed back on the rim of the container the nest is in. For the first time, I started hearing the babies peeping every time she came back to the nest, clamoring for attention.

I took a peek at them. There were four (I had previously thought there were three of them) and they all looked fully alert and were starting to stretch their wings.

So yesterday I had scheduled a day off work, to use up some vacation time, and was sitting with my morning coffee when I was startled by a whir and a thud behind me, over in the corner where the nest is.

I turned around to see what was happening and ... Lo and Behold... the first baby had ventured from the nest!

So of course I spent the next couple of hours crazily snapping pics and taking video till my camera batteries gave out!

It was quite nerve wracking watching them trying out their wings. The nest is on the top shelf and of course, they all launched themselves into space and then fluttered to the ground.

But they gradually got the hang of it and fluttered back up again, one shelf at a time.

Throughout all this activity, the Momma Wren was giving encouragement, as well as nourishment. In fact, even when they were all out of the nest, she went back to it several times with a juicy insect, just to make sure no one was left behind.

After a couple of hours (maybe more, I'm not sure, I completely lost track of the time) one by one, they launched themselves across the lawn to the shrubs at the back of the garden.

That seemed to wear them out a bit and for a while two of them sat in the crepe myrtle and two sat in the butterfly bush, resting. Momma Wren didn't like me poking around the shrubs trying to get a photo, so I went back to the patio and left them to it. I could still hear them peeping though.

But eventually they moved on. I went over to check on them one last time and they were nowhere to be seen or heard. Momma Wren wasn't hanging about either, so I assume she took them over the fence to the thicket next door.

I wish them the best and hope to see them again. Who knows, maybe one of them will choose to raise their own family on our patio.

But for now, I kind of feel like a mother whose kid has gone off to college.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

For the Birds...

2011-05-07T16:09:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I posted a photo of a nest that was little more than a few twigs that could have been blown away at the slightest breath of wind. And you know how windy it's been in Texas recently...

At the time, we assumed that it had been a trial run and that the bird had decided to nest elsewhere. However, we were wrong. Each day the nest seemed to get more complete...

My husband, whose home office is at the front of the house, said he thought a Mockingbird might be nesting there because he kept seeing one go into the tree.

This morning, as I was out doing some gardening in the front garden, a Mockingbird flew out of the tree so I decided to see what was happening in the nest. Using a stepladder I was able to peek in without touching or disturbing the nest.

I was thrilled at what I saw...

... four beautiful speckled eggs!

So we're going to be "bird grandparents" again!

It's funny how birds choose their nesting sites. Our house sits between two vacant lots, both of which are completely natural, with trees, undergrowth and every thing else an expectant bird could want.

So where does she nest?

...In a small live oak sapling we planted a couple of years ago to replace the builder-planted one that had drowned due to lack of drainage.

(If you look at the enlarged image, you can see the nest about half way up. Eye level to me when I'm standing on the ground)

Of course, that's no stranger than the wren nesting in a container on the back patio, five feet from where my husband and I sit and drink our wine on the weekends.

Speaking of the wren.... her babies have opened their eyes and are getting their plumage now.

I'm so glad we bought Cali, the stray cat, and her kittens indoors. For the safety of all the birds in our garden!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Old Grill Finds a New Life -- as a Planter!

2011-05-04T20:04:00.000-05:00

Last fall, as my husband cooked steaks on our grill, we realized that flame was coming out from underneath the grill - definitely not a good thing - and that it was time to retire that grill and get a new one.

Once the new grill was on the patio and in use, we discussed what we could do with the old grill. Among the suggestions was to take the guts out of it and somehow turn it into a planter.

Over the past couple of weeks, that's exactly what we did.

The gas tank had already been removed and traded in for a new one for the new grill, so Eric got right to work removing the old burner and everything else. He told me that parts were rusted right through and we were lucky we didn't have an accident!

Once the innards were out, Eric cleaned up the grill and giving the interior a good coating of Rustoleum to protect against rust.

On the exterior, he used a spray paint which gives a stone effect. I really like it :-)

The new "planter" comes with built-in drainage holes, but of course, those had to be covered up somehow to keep the soil in.

I started by simply adding some shards of broken pottery over the holes.

And then added some coco matting in the bottom.

All that was left after that was to add soil and start planting!

I kept the plantings simple in shades of pink, with some vinca and petunias, as well as a dahlia. I added a couple of spiky dracena for texture.

The new planter is set on the side of the patio, next to the table and chairs. it's easily accessible, which is good. I have a feeling I'm going to have to monitor it carefully and make sure it doesn't dry out. It's not very deep, especially the bottom tier, which is made from the lid of the original grill.

Still, I think it makes an attractive addition, and it's better than just tossing it out.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Break out the Cigars! We Have Hatchlings!

2011-04-29T20:36:00.000-05:00

A couple of days ago, I saw momma wren leave the nest on the patio and couldn't resist taking a peek. At first I thought the nest was empty because it was so deep and dark. But eventually I realized I was looking at some very tiny baby wrens!

Today, I risked another peek (standing on a step ladder from a discreet distance so as not to disturb) Again, at first I thought the nest was empty but as I zoomed my camera all the way in, I espied what appeared to be at least two beaks. I snapped a couple of pics and then retreated indoors to leave them in peace.

Here they are. Welcome to the world, little ones!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

It's a Bloomin' Party!

2011-04-27T20:59:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I showed you many of the plants I had getting ready to bloom in the garden.

Well, the party has started!

There are lots of buds on the daylilies, but this diminutive yellow one was the first to show its face.

Catching the late afternoon sun, this red one wasn't far behind.

The "New Gold" Lantanas are filling in spots all around the front border, much to the delight of the bees and butterflies.

My Easter lilies didn't quite get opened up in time for Easter this year. But they are lovely anyway, if a little late.

Side note: I'm seriously considering digging up the African lily plants that the builder put in (seen here behind that Easter lilies and also in the photo of the entry, above).

They are huge and one is planted so close to the sprinkler head that it completely blocks the spray from reaching any of that corner of the bed. Of course, that closeness to the sprinklers is the very thing that has stopped me from digging -- I don't want to rip out the sprinklers by accident.

In the back garden, the Buddleia has started to bloom behind the utility boxes. I didn't see any butterflies on it tonight, but I know from experience they love this bush.

And the Vitex, another butterfly and bee magnet, is now covered in blooms.

I bought these garden mums for a little seasonal color -- last Halloween!! They're in bloom already and I'm sure, with a couple of haircuts, they will be blooming all the way to next Halloween!

A little slow getting to the bloomin' party, the Rose of Sharon has opened her first bloom, with the promise of hundreds more to follow.

What's blooming in your garden this week?

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Happy Easter, from My Garden to Yours

2011-04-24T11:55:00.001-05:00

Heading out to the garden this morning, I stopped at the back door for a moment and watched the hummingbird on the feeder which hangs from one of the columns on the patio.

The location offers a great opportunity to observe them close up (and the cats love it) but unfortunately it's always in the shade, so the photos are always dark. (the blur at the top right hand side is a sticker on the door designed to prevent birds from flying into the glass)

Here's another garden visitor, a grey squirrel. I know a lot of people consider them pests, but I welcome them and they even have their own feeder.

A couple of weekends ago, Eric and I went out to Washington-on-the-Brazos and, on the way back, we stopped in at Fraziers in Hempstead. Wow - that place could be a whole post on its own! Talk about sensory overload! Every kind of garden ornament and statuary that you could wish for.

Eric's eyes rolled and glazed over as he envisioned hours of traipsing round trying to keep up with me as I oooh'd and aaaah'd over everything. In the end, he was lucky. I spotted this horse head Welcome sign after only 10 minutes or so and decided I would get it and come back on my own at a later date for a more intense browse.

In the bed where last year I had some tropical milkweed, this year I planted red Salvia coccinea "Texas Sage" and a bulbine. In addition, last year's Hot Trumpets Salvia has re-seeded and is doing well. The blue seed tray against the fence has some columbine seedlings. Although I planted several other types of seed, nothing much else is coming up yet.

Here's a close up of the bulbine blooms.

The little white trellis I got in Lowe's to hide the utility boxes really does the job. However, until now there wasn't much planted in front of it. I had some daffodils there this spring, and there was a White Gold Lantana. Everything else was in containers and I really wanted to start getting some things in the ground.

I made a start on it yesterday and added some Mealy Cup Sage as well as another bulbine. There's already a Marguerite Daisy growing off to the right so I think that the combination of blue/purple and yellow will look nice with the white lantana and the butterfly bush behind the trellis in summer.

Here's a close up of the Mealy Cup sage, which was already in bloom when I planted it.

Happy Easter to you all.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

We're Expecting!

2011-04-19T21:06:00.001-05:00

This rather bedraggled toad flax lily hosted a wren and her nest last summer and I've been watching this spring to see if she will come back. Another nest seemed to be taking shape, so I held off watering the poor plant, just in case.

Last week, as I was watering another plant on the same shelf, I accidentally bumped the watering can against the shelf. Imagine my surprise when a small brown bird seemingly catapulted out of the nest. I actually squeaked with surprise!

While she was gone, I had to sneak a peek in the nest and see if there was anything there.

I was in luck!

Please excuse the fuzzy photo:

After taking this photo, I began to get worried that I had scared the mother away permanently. But I've seen her come and go a few times since, and we've been treated to some serenading by what I presume is her "husband."

I have no idea when the eggs were laid or when they might hatch, but I'll keep an eye out and keep you posted.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Is it a Bird? Is it a Plane? No it's a ... what is it?

2011-04-17T10:34:00.000-05:00

I was sitting at the dining room table with my coffee, looking out at the garden as I like to do, when suddenly something caught my eye.

"Wow," I thought, "look at the size of that bumble bee on the verbena." As I ran outside with my camera I scanned the verbena for whatever it was I had seen.

Please forgive the poor quality photo, it had the uncanny ability to scoot sideways or backwards in the time my camera took to take the photo. This is the best photo I got.

From what I can tell, it's a Snowberry Clearwing Moth, Hemaris diffinis. It's considered a small hummingbird moth, measuring 1 1/2" to 2 " and, as you can see, it resembles a bumble bee. Like other hummingbird moths, it's active in daylight hours.

I was amazed to see one in the garden. I'd heard about them and read other blogs which mentioned them, but I had never seen one before. It's movement was very hummingbird like as it hovered in front of blooms and then backed up, and flew sideways to the next bloom.

A very interesting creature!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Coming Attractions!

2011-04-10T12:49:00.001-05:00

Looking around the garden this week, I was happy to see lots of new growth along with the promise of flowers and berries to come.

The vitex tree, now about 10 feet tall, is covered in buds and will soon be covered in aromatic, purple blooms which the bees and hummingbirds adore!

My husband's grape vine, finally now with a sturdy support structure, is rewarding us with bunches of buds and the promise of bunches of tasty grapes to come. Hopefully this year, we'll get to taste some of them and the whole bush won't get stripped overnight like it did last year.

In containers and in the border in the front garden, the garden mums are covered in buds and some are even starting to bloom. Throughout the year, I will trim these back as necessary to encourage fresh blooms all the way up into fall.

The hydrangea that was passed along to me by fellow Houston garden blogger Ursula last year seems to like its spot in the light shade of the patio and has put out several clusters of buds this spring.

In the front border, the Lantana "White Gold" is also covered in buds. I like "White Gold" as well as "New Gold" lantanas because they are smaller, mounding varieties and I don't have to hack them back like I've had to do with other varieties. They also don't form berries, so they continue flowering without needing to be dead headed.

I put these bulbs in a pot last year and promptly forgot about them. They didn't even come up last year, but earlier this spring, several sturdy stalks came up and now they are about to bloom. I can't wait to see what they look like!

Finally, I had to show off more of the Gaillardia "Fanfare" that I first showed a couple of weeks ago. This has been putting out a continuous show of 3 inch blooms -- I'm sure it didn't do that last year.

I must be doing something right!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Renewal

2011-04-02T08:12:00.000-05:00

My husband's office is at the front of the house, looking out over the front garden. One day this week, when I got home from work, he pointed out of his window and said, "I think there's a bird nesting in the tree."

The tree in question is the small live oak we planted in May 2009 to replace the builder-planted one that had "drowned." Click here for my husband's amusing account of that adventure.

Personally, I don't think it's nearly big enough to house a nest, but sure enough, there was a mockingbird industriously hopping to and fro with twigs.

Strange that she didn't just use the fairly substantial nest in the other live oak tree, 15 feet away. (See the dark clump in the middle?

That tree housed a family of mockingbirds last year but our guest this year prefers more custom features and is building her own nest.

I hope she keeps working on it, because looking at it close up, I'd say there's a good chance any eggs would fall through the bottom as it is right now!

Here are both trees seen from the street. (This post gets its title from the fact that these trees, and a lot of other things in the garden, are covered in new, bright green leaves.)

Underneath the small live oak, the little clump of bluebonnets is in full bloom.

I hope I get more of these next year. This self-seeded, but I think I'll try and collect some seeds to give it a helping hand next year.

In the back garden, the Star (Scentless) Jasmine is covered in buds. This vine is growing rampantly and will need to be trimmed this year. I just need to make sure I do it at the right time of year and that I don't kill it in the process! The scented Star Jasmine, growing next to it, is much smaller still but is also starting to bloom and grow.

In the back garden, I had pulled out a bunch of weed that was growing in with the homestead verbena. Apparently I missed this one (which is actually in the lawn - the verbena has spread about 2 feet beyond the border) and I'm glad I did! I love the color combination! Looking around the lawn, there's a lot more of it but it got mowed last night, so it won't get a chance to flower.

Finally, on the patio, I had pinched the fuschia back to remove the seed pods, and had given it a little fertilizer. It's now rewarding me with a second flush of blooms. They aren't as big as the first round, but I'm happy to see them anyway.

I hope you are all seeing signs of renewal in your spring gardens.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Disaster

2011-03-24T19:48:00.001-05:00

It is with a heavy heart that I have to report that when I got home from work tonight and looked around the garden, I noticed the bird house lying on the ground under the vitex tree. No sign of the chickadee, eggs or nestlings.

I have no idea what happened although it has been a little windy here. I think, with hindsight, that the hook supplied with the birdhouse wasn't suited to the task, and I was too inexperienced to know that when I hung it up.

I'm probably silly to get upset over it, but I did. I'll sign off for now, as I have tears in my eyes again.

Hopefully I can post a happier blog post at the weekend, and confirm if the wrens are nesting in the container on the patio.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Urge to Plant Something

2011-03-22T22:02:00.002-05:00

This past weekend I, and seemingly most Tomball area residents, headed to Lowe's Garden Center as "spring fever" hit and the urge to plant something took over.

I was feeling a bit guilty really, having just had a week of "stay-cation" which would have been perfect for a garden project, but during which I didn't do much of anything but relax. However, it was a wonderful Texas spring weekend, with temperatures in the low to mid 80's, so I couldn't wait to get out there and plant something.

I think my enthusiasm must have been contagious because my husband joined me and spent the afternoon pulling thistles out of the lawn while I planted in the flower bed.

(Yes, I *do* realize I have a husband in a million, and No, he's not for rent!)

I concentrated my efforts on the bed outside the dining room window where the daffodils are winding down. I kept it simple and planted a Heuchera hybrid, Coral Bells "Midnight Rose" and a couple of Iberis sempiverens, Candytuft "Snowflake", along with a six pack of Senecio cineraria, Dusty Miller.

Here's another view of the same bed -- this is as you walk into the back garden from the front gate .

The other project that was accomplished (a joint effort in that I offered advice and my husband did the heavy labor, i.e. digging the post holes) was this support for the Mars grapevine.

Last year we had this vine propped up with some plastic trellis, but it wasn't up to the task and the whole lot collapsed. Not only that, but even though at one point the vine was covered in little grapes, every last one of them disappeared the same night the trellis collapsed.

We're thinking the local raccoons had a grape party.

We hope this support will a) hold up the vine and b) allow us to utilize some sort of netting or other deterrant to keep the raccoons away from the grapes. Any suggestions will be gratefully received.

In the previous photo, you can see how close we were to the birdhouse that has the nesting Carolina Chickadee, as my husband was digging and I was "heeling in" the posts. That was when we met the occupant, who sat on the Vitex and scolded us for bouncing her house around.

Here's another shot of the birdhouse - the Vitex is really starting to leaf out compared to the photo of the bird house I showed you last week.

To end my post tonight, I thought I would share a photo of flowers in the front garden. Another of the Gaillardia "Fanfare" is blooming, and there's also a lot of Verbena blooming. The problem is, I have been all through my garden journal for last year and find I completely omitted to make a note of what variety it is!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

For Rent: Desirable Residence, UPDATE

2011-03-19T16:46:00.000-05:00

It's official -- we have a Carolina Chickadee nesting in the bird house hanging in the Vitex tree.

I've seen her fly in and out a couple of times and when I look in there (from a discreet distance) I can see her on the nest.

I tried taking a pic with my zoom lens but you can't see anything just a black hole.

I'm looking forward to seeing the babies when they fledge. I'll keep you posted

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Macro Flower Saturday - Gaillardia "Fanfare"

2011-03-19T11:34:00.001-05:00

I've been watching this Gaillardia "Fanfare" (Blanket flower) for a week or so, since I first noticed the buds. I was thrilled when I got home from work last night and saw the first bloom fully open. And I was surprised at the size of the bloom. It's almost 3 inches across in the photo above!

There are several of them along the border in the front garden and they're all starting to bloom.

Also, the bluebonnet that I showed you last week, and lamented that I didn't see any flower buds on it, is now putting out flower spikes.

I'm entering this post in Macro Flower Saturday, hosted by Maia because I feel the first photo fits that meme. Visit this link, or the button in the side bar, to see more great macro flower photos

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2011

2011-03-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

It seems like it's been a while since I did a post for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.

When I don't post it's for one of two reasons. Either there is nothing -- zip, zilch and nada -- blooming in my garden that particular month on the 15th, or I just plain forget.

And here I am at 9:50 pm on the 15th and I just remembered about it! So here are my offerings, humble though they may be compared to some.

To see what else is blooming around the world, visit Carol's blog at the top of this post.

First, the fuschia I showed you a couple of weeks ago in my Dancing Ballerinas post is still blooming, although it's winding down now. I'm glad I spotted this at the store. Even if it only lasts a few weeks, I think it has been worth it.

In the front garden, the daffodils have finished blooming but I won't cut them back just yet -- I'll wait until the leaves are yellow and then tidy them up. Around them, the pansies are still going strong.

These are Matrix Purple and Yellow Splotch (love that name). They are so reliable, nothing fazes them. Even the deer/rabbit or whatever it was that nibbled them back to nubs a couple of months ago couldn't kill them.

And waiting in the wings, the little Texas Bluebonnet is growing nicely. I don't see any flower buds on it yet, which is rather disheartening, considering I'm seeing them in bloom along the side of the freeway already. I'll keep hopeful though, and perhaps it will reseed some more for next year.

In the back garden, it's just the same old stuff I've had blooming for the past couple of weeks.

The Homestead verbena (seen above with a companion weed) is surfacing from under the pile of nijer thistle seed the birds dumped on it and has lots of blooms coming out.

I suppose it's just as well it made it through the winter safely because the cuttings I took last fall didn't make it :-(

Anyway, that's what I have blooming in my garden this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

For Rent: Desirable Residence, All Amenities

2011-03-13T20:47:00.000-05:00

As I was browsing around the gardening, doing a bit of weeding this weekend, I happened to notice some grasses and other materials poking out of the side of the little bird house I put up last week.

Could someone have taken up residence already?

I wonder who it could be...

If you remember, a pair of Carolina wrens made a nest and raised at least one youngster in a container plant on the patio last July.

It seems a little early for them to be nesting now, if they nested in July last year. But perhaps they nest several times a year. (I'll have to go and look up that information)

Or.... Eric and I were digging a couple of post holes on Saturday and I was amazed when a Carolina Chickadee hopped up and down a branch of the nearby Vitex tree, in which the bird house is hanging, and scolded us severely.

So perhaps the nest in the bird house is his, although I've been watching and haven't seen any coming and going since yesterday.

I hope we do get nesters - whoever they may be. I'll keep you posted.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

More Signs of Spring

2011-03-06T20:27:00.000-06:00

I've been off work this week--taking a "stay-cation"--and I had ambitious plans to get all kinds of work done in the garden. Looking back on the week, it seems like I didn't do much of anything really.

OK, so my husband and I replanted a couple of things, and I potted up some verbenas I got at the garden center.

But the garden still looks bare and brown...

... until you look closer...

The smaller of my Rose of Sharon shrubs is putting out new growth.

As is this unknown plant I received at a plant swap last spring. It has since become separated from its plant marker and I just cannot remember what it is.

The Tropi-Cannas that I had to cut back to soil level because of freeze damage are starting to put out big healthy leaves.

And this little yarrow (Achillea), which was a passalong last year, is multiplying. I hope I see some flowers this year. I didn't get any blooms on any of my achillea plants last year.

I was surprised that the Homestead verbena has put out flowers already. The one on the other side of the garden is a tenth the size of this one, and has no flowers. Obviously this one has the prime location, but it almost got buried in nijer thistle seed hulls this winter because it's growing underneath where I hang the sock feeders for the goldfinches.

I bought a new verbena at the garden center this week. I potted this one up, rather than plant it in the ground, because I'm not sure where it would be happiest. In a pot, I can move it around until I find its sweet spot.

Isn't it a lovely color?

I remember lamenting in my blog a couple of weeks ago that I might not get to see my blooming daffodils because I leave the house before dawn to go to work, and I don't get home till almost dark. Well this week I got to enjoy them fully.

I thought I'd let you see them too.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Dancing Ballerinas

2011-02-27T09:55:00.000-06:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm originally from England and I get my love of gardening from my parents. My mum always has breathtaking baskets of fuschias in the summer. They have always been one of my favorite plants, the flowers are just delightful, but they don't handle our hot humid summers.

I was surprised this weekend when I saw baskets of them at the garden center, but I suppose it makes sense they would be there now. Like the pansies which grow in my garden from Thanksgiving to spring, fuschias should do well in our early spring weather.

I'm sure they will fizzle when summer arrives, but until then, I will enjoy them.

I've always thought that the flowers look like little ballerinas. Don't you agree?

Last year, when Eric was using the barbecue, I noticed flashes of flame coming out underneath! It was immediately turned off and I got Eric a new grill for Christmas. The little old grill I had used for years is now officially retired and this year it's guts will be removed and it will be transformed into a planter.

For now, I just set some containers of plants on it.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Signs of Spring

2011-02-20T21:31:00.000-06:00

I got all excited last week when I noticed the daffodil bulbs I had planted just a few weeks ago were putting up leaves, which at the time were only an inch or two high. One Friday evening, I took more photos because I was surprised at how quickly the leaves were growing. They were now 6 to 8 inches high. As I snapped photos, I noticed a swelling bud on one of the plants.

This morning started out a bit windy and cloudy, but as I surveyed the garden, I caught sight of a little ray of sunshine...

There are buds on a lot of the others now, but I'm not sure if I will get to see them as I leave the house before dawn to go to work and it's more or less dark by the time I get home at this time of year.

That's what made this little gem so precious!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Gardening Bug Has Bitten, and a Kitten Update

2011-02-13T12:44:00.000-06:00

It happens around this time every year. The sun is shining, but it's cool enough to garden in comfort. That rare season when I can plant and dig without breaking a sweat in Houston!

I have plans for preparing the border along the back wall for some seasonal color. Since that's the bed I expanded last year by laying down landscape fabric and covering with mulch to kill off the grass underneath, that will probably be quite a lengthy process of digging and adding some compost.

So yesterday, I just did some more weeding, and also planted a clematis.

I planted it in front of the small trellis I put in to hide the utility boxes. I had already amended the soil in that bed, so I hope it does well there.

While I was pottering around weeding, my husband, enticed by the opportunity to employ power tools, was using a drill and auger to deep root fertilize the trees. He followed up by mulching over the holes he had drilled.

So now the garden looks like it has been invaded by gophers...

But that's okay, a few rains and once the grass starts growing, we won't even see that, and hopefully the tree will show it's appreciation by not dying.

Someone had asked for an update on the mother cat and her kittens that we took in last summer. Well, they're still with us and doing well. They are such a joy, and so entertaining we don't regret taking them in for a single moment.

They all get on well together and our other cats tolerate them pretty well.

We're particularly happy that Cali, the mother cat, has bonded so well with Merlin, a stray I took in when I moved from my previous home. My other cats didn't take to him so well, so I was really pleased that Cali and Merlin are now the best of friends.

Last summer I was concerned for the safety of the birds in the garden, since Cali and the kittens had strong hunting instincts. Well, I'm happy to the report that the birds are now thriving in the garden unmolested by felines.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

After the Freeze

2011-02-06T19:57:00.001-06:00

OK, so perhaps Houston over-reacted to the impending snow...

I'm happy to know that the rest of the country found us amusing!

In the event, it didn't happen. Perhaps a little sleet here and there, but mainly just some icy roads. Hey - I'm not complaining, I got an extra day off work on Friday! Most unexpected, and most appreciated.

But as I wandered around the garden this weekend, I was not happy to see that the fennel, which had weathered earlier cold snaps, finally bit the big one and now lies a shrivelled mess.

While 10 yards away, around our 'Raine' water treatment system, the weeds are looking disgustingly robust.

It's not all bad news though. On my inspection tour, I happened to notice that the daffodils I planted a couple of weeks ago are beginning to come up.

And the Achillea I put in last spring, that really didn't do anything last year, are looking healthy and ready to go this year.

The pansies I put around the trees in front have withstood the attentions of whatever hungry critter was nibbling on them...

And while I was putting in a few more bulbs, I discovered another little treasure - baby bluebonnets, seeded from last year's plants. This one is the bigger of the two I found, only a couple of inches across at the moment. Which reminds me, I gathered some seed last year, I wonder if it's too late to sow it now?

This has been a bumper week for birds. The cold weather has brought them to the feeders in droves.

We've been getting a lot of house sparrows this year, which we haven't in previous winters at this house. I didn't even notice the tufted titmouse seen here until I downloaded the photo to my computer.

Normally, I miss my chance to get a photo of the Carolina Chickadee, or just get a blurred shot as he flies away, but I lay in wait this time. The camera was on the tripod and I stood inside the back door for 10 minutes waiting for him to come back so I could snag a photo. I'm happy with how this one came out.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

The Armchair Gardener

2011-01-16T21:16:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been quite mild and I had planned to get out in the garden today and do some cleanup. But when I looked outside this morning, I was dismayed to see overcast skies and the sort of drizzle that the English weather I grew up with is famous for. The gardening will have to wait...

So what's a gardener to do when the weather outside isn't suitable for gardening?

One of my favorite things to do is sit and read gardening books, magazines, or any of the myriad seed and flower catalogs that show up in the mailbox at this time of year.

Garden Gate is a magazine I've subscribed to since last year. I love the garden plans and in some cases they'll offer regional variations, so you can get the same "look" using plants that are suitable for your area of the country. That's something that has frustrated me with other magazines and catalogs -- falling in love with a plant, only to find it's not suited to my zone.

Gardening Made Easy is an easy-to-browse book. It has a section on garden styles -- formal, romantic, modernist, cottage garden, cook's garden etc. as well as lots of lovely garden plans. There are also informative how-to sections, such as how to divide perennials, how to start vegetable seeds etc. Experienced gardeners probably wouldn't get much out of the book, but for an enthusiastic beginner like myself, the book is a comfortable blend of inspiration and practical information.

One of my favorite books this winter has been Projects for the Birder's Garden. My husband rolled his eyes when he saw the word "projects", thinking it would mean a list of honey-do's a mile long. But actually many of the projects are very simple - like making tray feeders and bird baths from clay plant saucers.

For sheer eye candy, it's hard to beat Birds and Blooms. I get the magazine every other month and love browsing through the glorious photos (while all the time wishing I could take photos like those). The magazine combines two of my favorite topics, so it's a win-win for me!

What are your favorite gardening magazines or books?

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Project Feeder Watch

2011-01-09T14:00:00.002-06:00

One of my favorite pastimes is watching the birds in our garden, although due to my work schedule I don't get to do it nearly enough - usually only on Saturday and Sunday, while I'm sitting in the dining nook having morning coffee.

I'd heard of Project Feeder Watch before, and thought I was too late to participate. However, although it started back in November, the season actually runs through April 8th. So I decided to go ahead and order the kit.

The kit includes a calendar for you to keep track of the days on which you participate. I had wondered how my data would be useful, given that I can only watch a couple of days a week, but the calendar allows that to be taken into account when you submit data.

You also get a poster to help you identify the birds you see in your backyard.

You can submit paper tally sheets, but I'm planning to enter my data online.

I'm looking forward to getting my kit but in the meantime, I got the camera out as I was watching the birds in the garden this morning and snapped a few photos.

The first few photos were taken from inside the dining nook, through the windows. Not great photos I'm afraid, because I was shooting through the wooden blinds, and you can see a reflection of the blinds in the photo.

As always, clicking on the photos will allow you to view a larger version.

The Chipping Sparrows have been with us most of the winter. They are by far the most populous birds in our garden. The American Goldfinches just showed up last week, causing me to have to make a special trip to the store to get some nyjer seed. I may have wasted my money -- they seem to like the regular patio blend birdseed just fine.

We also have several resident pairs of Northern Cardinals in the trees around our home. This female doesn't mind sharing with the goldfinch.

No birds in this photo -- just a wider shot of the location, taken from out on the patio, so no reflections.

The red-bellied woodpecker, "Woody", stopped in for a visit. It's quite amusing watching him feed from the fence, and even funnier watching him on the back wall, where all I see is his head poking over the top, while his body is hanging off the other side.

I don't think I've ever captured a Carolina Chickadee on film before - they always grab a nut and then flit back either to the tree behind the fence, or up in to our pine tree. I had the camera on the tripod today and just snapped.

I also caught the back end of a new bird for me -- a Tufted Titmouse. I saw him for the first time just yesterday. He came and went several times this morning, but this was the only photo I got.

Further along the fence, lots of Chipping Sparrows, or LBB's--Little Brown Birds--as my dad would say, jockeying for position as usual.

A little later in the day (I wrote most of this post this morning) I happened to notice all sorts of activity on our pine tree. We have two suet feeders out there and I'm used to seeing "Woody" and a couple of downy woodpeckers out there. But today I was seeing different birds.

Is this a Carolina Wren?

Back at Thanksgiving, when my dad was visiting from England, he told me how the birds in his garden loved peanut butter. So we spread some on some knot holes on our pine tree, but I never saw any bird take notice till today.

Knowing that the peanut butter was dried up and almost inedible by now, I ran out and smeared some fresh peanut butter on the tree.

In a couple of minutes, my visitor was back!

Pine Warbler perhaps?

And finally, also at the behest of my dad, who said the birds loved the nut feeder in his garden, I put up a nut feeder shortly after Thanksgiving. It had stayed at the same level until earlier this week, when I noticed the level start to go down.

Earlier today I noticed a Tufted Titmouse on it, but didn't get a photo. A few minutes ago I managed to snap this Northern Cardinal having an afternoon snack.

If you haven't already, it's not too late to participate in Project Feeder Watch. Learn more about it and sign up by clicking on the button below.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

New Year's Clean Up

2011-01-02T19:11:00.002-06:00

We were blessed with absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend so I made the most of it and spent time outside, planting daffodil bulbs and doing some general clean up.

I haven't grown daffodils in 20-something years, when I stuck some in the ground at the first house I lived in when I moved to Texas. Those did.. okay... and that's about all you could say, so I just didn't bother again. But I've always like daffodils, they're such sunny, happy flowers, so when I saw some supposedly especially for warm climate gardens in WalMart, of all places, I grabbed a couple of bags of bulbs.

We'll see how they do and I can take solace in the fact that, at $5 for 12 bulbs, at least I didn't spend a fortune if they fizzle.

I planted them in the relatively new bed I created in September, as well as in around the trees in the front garden.

As I was planting them, I was able to use some of my very own Black Gold -- compost!!

Since I only started composting in October, I was thrilled to find I actually had some usable compost!

After I planted the bulbs, I got on with some clean up -- which involved trimming back the dead sweet potato vine, as well as several other plants that had died back in the freeze.

It was exciting to see signs of new growth already...

At the base of most of the milkweed, there was a flush of new green leaves. Most of them I just trimmed back to make the front look tidy, but a couple I had to pull out because they were growing in inconvenient places.

Underneath the seemingly dead chrysanthemums was healthy new growth waiting to be uncovered.

Behind the utility boxes, the hollyhock that I had to cut back to the ground last summer because of rust seems to have made it through the winter frosts with no problem.

I didn't think these were perennials and wasn't expecting it to come back at all after it bloomed its second year. Does anyone know if it will bloom again this year or will I have to wait till next year to see it bloom again?

And finally, this chrysanthemum was blooming, even underneath all it's dead stalks from last year. I took this photo as I was part-way through trimming it back, I was so amazed to see flowers!

Several times throughout the morning, I found myself smiling at the thought of, "Where else would I be planting and weeding on New Year's weekend with the sun on my back and a glass of ice tea in my hand? Only in Texas!"

Happy New Year everyone.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Christmas Wishes from My Garden to Yours

2010-12-19T11:46:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we were blessed with perfect weather - sunny skies, gentle breeze, temperature in the 60's somewhere I think. Having been sick in bed all last weekend, I was eager to get out in the fresh air and get my hands dirty.

I thought about cleaning up the frost damaged plants in the front garden, but with nets of Christmas lights draped everywhere, there was a high risk of me cutting the wrong thing with the secateurs, so I concentrated in the back garden.

The "Tropi-Cannas" that I had in containers in the corner got frost-bitten, so I trimmed them back, taking care not to damage the new shoots that are already coming through, and relocated the containers further along the wall.

In their place, I picked up a couple of small "living Christmas trees" -- Chamaecyparis lawsoniana Elwoodii - False Cypress. They were the last two left, they were pretty beat up and their pots were split, but they were only $4, so I snatched them up and took them home.

I repotted them and arranged them in front of the trellis where the cannas had been, along with some poinsettias I bought around Thanksgiving. It creates a nice little splash of color in an otherwise drab back garden.

Further along the back wall, the dwarf Burford Holly is getting in the Christmas spirit too, with bursts of bright red berries.

Finally getting started with the actual clean up, I turned to the Homestead Verbena. This was gifted to me in the spring by Ursula, who I have mentioned before -- I think I owe half of my garden to her generosity.

I guess the keyword here is Location, Location, Location. Ursula gave me two of these. I planted one on the other side of the garden, where it withered and died. This one... well you can see what this one did...

This started off in a 4 inch pot, now it's five feet across. I had to hack it back, it was taking over the lawn! I can't wait till it blooms in the spring! I stuck some of the cuttings I had taken in to a flat with potting soil in it and put it in my mini greenhouse on the patio. If they make it great, if they don't -- I have more!

Further along the same fence, the Fennel that got eaten down to nubs by the swallowtail caterpillars has rebounded and looks lovely tucked in the back of the bed. The recent freeze didn't faze it a bit, so hopefully it will still be around when the swallowtail butterflies show up in the spring.

Just in front of it, the Hot Trumpets salvia is still doing well and it's surrounded by babies, where it seeded freely this year.

I was tempted to "weed" this bed, but then decided just to pluck out the obvious bird seed sprouts and leave the rest till spring when I can pot up and relocate some of these babies.

I probably won't have a chance to blog again before Christmas, so in case I don't, I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Holiday season.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Wordless Wednesday - Lunchtime at Squirrel's Rest

2010-12-15T21:35:00.001-06:00

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Going Round in Circles - Tree Circles, That Is...

2010-12-05T12:16:00.000-06:00

The cheap plastic edging around the trees in our front garden has served us well in keeping the St. Augustine out of the flowerbed, but I wanted something more permanent and more visually appealing.

After sprucing up the bed around the pine tree in the back garden, I had in mind to use the same stone in the front.

I started small, just working on one of the trees. We'll do the other tree next weekend and at some point over the winter, we'll work on the foundation bed, which will take a lot more stone than the little project we just finished.

Before:

After:

(My mum was "supervising" - see top left of photo!)

As if to show their gratitude the pansies, that just a short while ago were being nibbled by "something," are now covered in beautiful blooms and hopefully will stay like that until March or April, like they did last winter.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Before and After

2010-12-01T22:23:00.000-06:00

What a difference a week makes. Just before Thanksgiving, I showed you this photo of the sweet potato vine which was growing rampantly in the flower bed beside the garage.

That same bed (as well as much of the rest of the garden) is looking quite sorry after the recent freeze.

This photo was taken the morning after the first freeze, as the damage was just beginning to show. The bed is worse now, but I'm not home during daylight hours to witness it or take photos.

At least I don't have to decide what to do with the vine now, that decision has been taken out of my hands. (Gotta look on the bright side ;-)

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

"Wild Life Gardening" Goes a Bit Too Far

2010-11-22T09:25:00.002-06:00

As soon as I saw the pansies in flats at the local garden center, I knew I had to get some.

After all, the ones I had planted last year lasted from Thanksgiving until well into spring.

I purchased the same ones that did so well last year - Matrix Yellow Splotch and Matrix Purple - and spent a pleasant morning a few weekends ago putting them in the ground around the young live oak trees in the front garden, and also a couple in the border by the dining room window in the back garden.

I planted them, watered them in and left them to it. (In my garden, if a plant can't make it on its own, it doesn't belong!)

Then I got busy, as always seems to happen and it was a couple of weeks before i looked at them again. When I did, what I saw saddened me.

A couple of the pansies had been pulled out of the ground and were dried up and dead or dying.

Those that were still in the ground had all the blooms neatly nibbled off.

Who could have done such a dastardly deed?

Um.. it could have been this guy...

... seen here in the vacant lot on the west side of our house.

Here's a longer view, showing our fence... perhaps we should take the Welcome sign off the gate...

Seriously though, I love having deer around and I hope the pansies come back and bloom through the winter and spring. After all, they managed it last year, and presumably we had deer then too. Hopefully in a few weeks, they'll all be looking like the one below, which is blooming, unmolested, in the back garden.

In other garden news...

The Toad Lily that hosted the family of Carolina Wrens this summer, is now blooming. I'm especially happy about this since it suffered some serious water deprevation in the heat of the summer when the nest was in place and I couldn't water it.

Here's another one -- thanks for these Ursula!

I'm rather taken with the way that the sweet potato vine, growing rampantly in the front bed by the garage, is now showing some seasonal color.

I'm not sure if this can be left over the winter, or if I need to cut it back, pull it out or whatever. I'm sure I'll do what I always do - leave it to fend for itself :-)

I hope readers in the U.S. have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday this week. For the rest of you, have a great week :-) See you on the flip side

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.