We Are Not Alone

 Ever get that feeling that you are not alone?


Most weekends, Eric and I enjoy a glass of wine on our patio.  I guess, being in Texas, we shouldn't be surprised to find that we often share it with the local wildlife.

In the past, we've been serenaded by frogs, entertained by skunks, raided by raccoons.

I was only mildly surprised then when I turned to say something to Eric and noticed a very large, very green "thing" on the window frame.  With apologies to my husband, this photo was too good not to share!!

I did a little research and I think I can identify the bug as an Oblong-Winged Katydid -- Amblycorpha oblongifolia

Here's another photo of it.

Impressive, huh?


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

My, How You've Grown!

 The pride of my garden where I lived before was a Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) that was given to me as a cutting by my neighbors.  It was a mere stick when I put it in the ground and when I left it was as tall as my one storey house.

Wanting to bring it with me to our new house, I took some cuttings from it. I kept them in containers over the winter of 2008/2009, during which time all but one seemed to have died.  So in February of 2009, I put that little sprout in the ground. (Sorry, you can barely see it in this photo)

It apparently likes where I planted it (the border we put in along the back wall, where it gets some dappled shade from the pine tree) because by June 2009, it was a foot high and BLOOMING!

This is it a year later...

Others that I planted at the same time, in different corners of the garden, are still tiny, so this is obviously the magic spot!

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

I Know the Feeling....

 After a long, busy week at work followed by a hot, steamy lawn mowing session, I can sympathize with this garden visitor...

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

Guess Who Came For Dinner

I was beginning to wonder if I was going to see any Monarch caterpillars on the Milkweed this year. But finally, my patience was rewarded...

I've got several Milkweeds in the garden.  Some that I purchased online and some that self-seeded from last year's plants.  With all those milkweeds, I was anxious to see some caterpillars.

Finally, when we got back from Indy I noticed one caterpillar, just one.  I've been keeping an eye on him each day and yesterday I was happy to notice there were two caterpillars on the plant.

And then today, I counted FOUR!  Wierd thing is that they're all on one plant, as are a bunch  of aphids - ewwwwwww.  The others are devoid of caterpillars.

Interestingly, the plants without the caterpillars are also sans aphids at the moment, but I don't know how long that will last, there seems to be nothing that can be done about them without risk to the caterpillars.

But hey - at least the aphids are the same color as the flowers and, from a distance, you can't even tell!!

Now, I have a question for you all.  As I was examining the grapes on our grape vine, I noticed this caterpillar.  Does anyone know what it is?

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

Finally Taking Shape

Eric and I got back from our trip to Indiana late on Thursday night. We're glad we were able to get up there for his mom's memorial service. Per her wishes, it was a quiet and simple service and I'm sure she would have approved.

When we got back, I gazed around the garden and, seeing it with new eyes, I realized that it's starting to become the Green and Serene retreat that I envisioned when I moved in here almost 2 years ago.

Left to right along the wall -- Southern Wax Myrtle, Rose of Sharon, Flame Acanthus, unknown grape vine (was labelled Mars, but now we're not so sure) and Vitex. There are some Pentas in front of the Flame Acanthus and some lilies and other things coming up too.

The Vitex is a magnet for bees and butterflies.

I love the network of shadows our pine tree casts across the garden. Left to right in this pic -- the "no scent" Star Jasmine, with the scented Star Jasmine next to it.  By the garden flag is a volunteer sunflower and an Achillea "Debutante". The Crepe (or is it Crape?) Myrtle in the middle is in bloom now, but wasn't when I took this photo last week. On the right, two tropical milkweeds are blooming like crazy and even have seed pods on them, so I'll have more next year. And finally, some Salvia "Hot Trumpets" seem to like their little corner.

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

Closed for the Week

My husband and I are flying up to Indianapolis tomorrow to attend Eric's mother's Memorial Service.  She died peacefully in her sleep last week, in the house she had lived in for 30 years, surrounded by friends and family.

She will be missed.

I won't have internet access while I'm away, but I should be back Friday. 

Weeds in the Lawn Can Be a Good Thing

Ok - I admit it, I was a bit of a lawn snob. In fact, when we first moved in to this house two years ago, I signed a contract with a lawncare company to come and spray or sprinkle various fertilizers, fungicides and insecticides on the lawn in my quest for the lushest, greenest lawn in the neighborhood.

When the lawn all but upped and died during last year's drought, in spite of the hundreds of dollars I had spent on it -- not from lack of water, by the way, but from ROOT  ROT from my overwatering!!! -- I placed a call to the aforementioned lawncare company and cancelled our service.

My fellow garden bloggers may take the credit for turning me in to a more natural and organic gardener.  I haven't yet read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, but there were various blog posts in February and March which opened my eyes to the dangers of the use of chemicals in the garden.

And while I still like lawn and will probably always have lawn, I'm more casual about it now. Yes, I frowned back in February when the first things to start greening up in the garden were the WEEDS.... 

... but, in a turnaround for me, I didn't grab a large bag of Weed n Feed and hit the garden with it as I would have done in previous years.

Seeing the various feathered visitors pecking around in the lawn, I was glad I had chosen not to spread harmful poisons out there.

Pulling weeds is now a therapeutic form of exercise for me. I don't get them all, by any means, but I get a lot of them and those I don't get to are mowed before they can set seed.   The good thing is that now the lawn itself has greened-up (is that a word?), hey, the weeds aren't so obvious!

I've discovered one more advantage to not using herbicides and insectides on the lawn.  I'm seeing more beneficial insects now, such as the ladybug below.  Notice that she's not on the St. Augustine, she's on a weed.

And this butterfly - an American Lady, I think - is on another weed (which I've been fighting a losing battle with)

So maybe these weeds in the lawn aren't such a bad thing...

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