Spring is Springing

I do love the sound of birds singing out in the garden. One bird that has a particularly loud and beautiful song, especially for a bird of its size, is the Carolina Wren.

I woke up to hear the beautiful notes of his song and as I looked out the window I saw him approach the patio with a mouth full of nesting materials.  I later managed to catch this photo of him in the pine tree (and check out that pollen!!)

I was getting excited because it appeared that a pair of wrens were going to nest on the patio, this time in  decorative watering can, next to an assortment of bird houses on a bakers rack in the corner.

Unfortunately, last weekend, I thought I'd offer them some more nesting material by hanging a suet feeder filled with horse hair on the rack and as I did so, I accidentally bumped the rack and a bird flew out of the watering can.  To my knowledge they never returned :-(

I took a peek today after ensuring it wasn't occupied.  There's a perfectly complete nest in there.  All it needs is a bird family.

I do know though, that the male wren will build a selection of nests and then the female will choose which one to lay her eggs in.  I guess when I bumped the shelf she decided to pick a nest in a less trafficked spot.

Oh well, maybe next year....

I've been reading good news about the Monarch butterflies leaving their wintering grounds in Mexico and heading north so I wanted to be prepared for them.

A lot of our milkweed was damaged in the winter freezes and some of it never returned, so I got proactive and headed to Plants for all Seasons, where they had just received a shipment in.

I'm also going to get some more which will be kept in containers to go in the new Monarch nursery I just purchased.  The new on is taller than the one I had last year (which I will use also).  The taller height will allow me to keep container plants in it, instead of having to snip cuttings every day and keep them in water picks, transferring the caterpillars to the fresh cuttings as necessary.

When we first moved in here I planted a Vitex tree and since then we haven't really touched it.  It was a total mess with lots of suckers and criss-crossing branches.  Today we had our arborist out to take care of it.  He did a good job and carted off all the trimmings.  However the tree was such a mess, I still think it needs tidying up some more. (No pics today)

While he was here, he also gave one of the Live Oak trees in the front yard a much needed trim. Now my husband Eric doesn't have to do the limbo every time he wants to mow the grass underneath it.

The cosmos I planted last year has reseeded prolifically and is putting on a beautiful display.

We had been wondering what to do with the peach tree.  It had never really put its roots down into the soil and we could move it back and forth quite easily.  It suffered from the freezes over the winter too and when my husband asked the arborist about it, he literally lifted it out of the ground with no resistance at all.  Question answered!

I seized the opportunity, since there was room in the island bed now, to relocate the Angel Trumpets, that was in a half barrel and was getting root bound.  It too had frozen back in the winter, but I was happy to see some new growth, so I'm hopefully it will do well where the peach tree failed.

Around the corner in the veggie garden, the runner type beans I put in beneath a new bean tower have all sprouted (well a couple didn't but most did)  I'm looking forward to seeing these grow up the bean tower, which reaches above my head.

Also in the veggie garden, the "Sir Crunch-a-lot" cucumbers have sprouted.  I hope these do well this year, we've had mixed luck with cucumbers in the past including one year when we had precisely zero -- all the flowers dropped off.  I'll let these establish a little and then probably thin them out

It was so lovely being able to work in the garden when I got home from work today. First of all, the weather was perfect, something we don't often get here, and second - now I'm working locally I no longer have the grueling two-hour commute I used to have.

Life is good!

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

Enjoying the Spring Garden

With the recent rains, and now the bright sunny weather, the back garden is really starting to take off.

In previous years, the island beds were completely taken over by weeds by this date, but I've been more or less able to keep them in check by weeding five minutes here, five minutes there.

Other than the Nutsedge, which I have complained about before on this blog, the most prevalent weed in the garden is this:

I don't know what it is, but it's everywhere -- in the lawn, in the island beds, in the veggie garden. It's fairly easy to tweak out but it does involve bending over and hand picking, as trying to hoe it only ends up with the roots of the River birch, Vitex and peach trees getting disturbed.

I got most of it out now, which is better than I have done in previous years. If anyone knows what it is, please let me know.

The pansies I put in at Thanksgiving are coming in to their own now and really looking lovely. The yellow, purple and white set the tone and pick up those colors elsewhere in the garden - such as the Homestead verbena under the Vitex and the snapdragons in containers by the birdbath.

Along with the purple Homestead verbena under the Vitex, this Achillea is blooming. I planted this a few years ago and it's spread along the back border, enjoying the dappled shade provided by the tree in the summer.  I haven't really seen many blooms on it before, but it looks like it's getting ready to pop now.  I started some seedlings of this in different colors so I will be interested to see how they do in future years.

Isn't it funny how the smallest birds can make the most noise?  I was indoors this morning and heard what at first I thought to be a mockingbird singing outside.  I realized it was something else and took a peek outside to see who it might be.  It didn't take me long to spot this Carolina Wren sitting at the top of the tree behind our back wall, singing his heart out.

That scraggly old tree is quite a favorite with the birds.  The woodpeckers love it,  and I happened to see this flock of Cedar Waxwings land in it yesterday. Funny how I had never seen one of these birds until just before this year's Backyard Bird Count and now I see flocks on a regular basis.

Another garden visitor I was thrilled to see was this squirrel. Squirrels used to be regular visitors until the lots either side of us were cleared and built on.  It's been quite a while since we have had such a furry visitor.  This one was partaking of the buffet I had put on the wall for the birds.

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

Back from vacation - How has our garden grown?

Eric and I were on vacation for two weeks, taking a road trip across Texas, New Mexico and Colorado, up to Montana and Wyoming where we visited the very moving Battlefield at the Little Bighorn, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons.

While we were away we were hearing about the torrential rains and flooding our area was receiving. I could only imagine what the garden looked like, especially as we have some serious drainage issues  since the house next to us was built.

But as it happened, things were looking pretty good. Okay so of course the grass and the weeds needed taking in hand, but generally speaking, if one doesn't look too closely in between the flowers, the effect is quite pleasing :-)

One of our island beds has a volunteer Vitex bush growing in it.  I was going to take it out, as we had a River Birch growing there.  But the River Birch never really thrived and ended up getting snapped in two in a windstorm, so I decided to let it stay.  I will just be more vigilant about keeping it pruned back to shrub form (if I can) rather than letting it grow tree sized like I did with the one behind it.

The daylilies are blooming beautifully.  I had meant to divide them but never got around to it.  I think late winter is the time to divide and replant them, so I will put some in the other island bed and I will probably have some to share.

The little Sam Houston Peach has some nice sized fruit on it this year, but unfortunately many of the fruits got damaged in the hail storm we had before we went on vacation.  They may still be edible, but just blemished.

 The other island bed had millions of zinnia seedlings which I thinned out before we went away. I also planted some native milkweed and some liatris,which are coming up, and some coneflowers, which didn't do anything. Last year's tropical milkweed, which I had trimmed back, is looking good, and the New Gold Lantana are flowering.  I also noticed lots of little Cleome seedlings coming up around the waterfall.

By the bird bath against the back wall, the Angel Trumpet that I keep giving up on has once again returned. I doubt I will see flowers on it, but I like the different texture of the big leaves against the holly.  In the containers, last year's Gaura and lantana have come back and some violas are still going from spring time.  There are self seeded zinnias in this area too and I've thinned them out and kept them where I want them for some color.

This has been a basic overview to catch up after our vacation.  I'll be back on my usual blogging schedule now and hope to take time to visit my blogging friends and see how your gardens are growing.



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

The Garden in May - Then and Now

After showing you a photograph of the Rose of Sharon soon after it had been planted in my last post, I thought I'd show some more "Then and Now" photos of the garden.

The "Then" photos were all taken in May and June 2009.  The "Now" photos have been taken in the past couple of weeks.

THEN:
The first photo shows the border we built using stones the builder had left over from accenting the front of the house.  My husband was glad to have them out of the garage, not so glad he was the one that had to move them!

I would have liked to have made the border deeper, but we had to work around underground utilities and sprinkler heads.

NOW:
Views along the back of the garden today show how the garden has filled in. The Vitex has grown like gangbusters, as have the Southern Wax Myrtle and the Rose of Sharon.  You can also see "Junior", the young pine tree we had put in to replace the mature pine we lost.

THEN: 
The builder put a few holly bushes around the utility boxes, but eventually all but one of them died.  The vast expanse of lawn made the garden nice and green, but not much to offer for the birds and butterflies.

NOW:
To disguise the utility boxes, I got a couple of lattice panels from Lowes and believe it or not, I managed to cram in a butterfly bush and a small crepe myrtle behind the utility boxes.  (Probably not the wisest choice, but the butterflies enjoy it :-)

Here's a close up view of the utility box corner.  Not sure if you can see in this photo, perhaps in the enlarged version, but I've been using the area as a convenient place for a brush pile, which has made it a favorite spot for the birds too :-) 

We also got rid of some of the vast expanse of lawn by putting in an island bed.  It's a bit of a hodge-podge, with no real planting plan, just things stuck in the ground as and when I think about it.  I had planned to organize it this year, but it didn't happen.  Maybe next spring....

In the meantime, I'm happy that the daylilies are finally blooming (they did nothing last year) and the Profusion zinnia has self-seeded.

The character of the bed will likely change as the peach tree and the river birch grow, but I think they will both provide dappled shade, so plants should still enjoy  sharing the bed with them.

THEN:
When we moved in, the most striking thing about the property was that it was surrounded by trees.  That's really where the "Green and Serene" in the name of my blog came from.  Of course, we knew it couldn't last, but we enjoyed it while we could.

NOW:
Now we have houses either side and those trees are gone, but our new neighbors have planted a small tree in their back yard, so perhaps together we can rebuild the habitat :-)

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

Singing the Praises of Vitex and an Unusual Night Visitor

 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.

It's a Bloomin' Party!

 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.

Coming Attractions!

 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.

Bugs and Blooms in the Garden

It seems like I haven't blogged in a while. I don't know where my time is going, but I just haven't found time this week to sit down to resize photos and blog until I decided I had to make it a priority this evening.

I don't have a specific subject in mind tonight, so I'm just going to take my cues from the photos I have taken in the past 10 days or so.

First, let me re-introduce you to an old friend.  If you read my post Wild America, you will remember the three-legged stick insect I found in the garden.

Well, guess who I saw again, by the front door this past weekend?  And guess what?  She has a boyfriend!

It has to be the same insect.  I can't imagine that two of them in close proximity to my garden would be missing the same three legs.  It certainly doesn't seem to have affected her adversely and apparently her boyfriend doesn't mind either.

Here's a photo of another fascinating insect that I took recently.

I don't know what type of dragonfly it is, but it's quite lovely and for some reason, it reminds me of an old World War II bomber, somewhat like the one that flew over our house, out of Hooks Airport recently...

(I think it's the "undercarriage" that makes it look like a bomber)

But I digress, this is supposed to be a Garden Blog, so what else has been going on in my garden?

Well the Phillipine Lily, that I mentioned in my blog last week, finally got around to blooming. I actually had three blooming at once, but I tried to take photos on a humid morning and the camera lens kept fogging up.  This was the best I could get...

In the front garden, the Lantana "White Gold" is blooming. I've got several of them dotted around the front and back gardens, but the one in the front is doing best so far.

I love this detail shot of the blooms.

I have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with Crepe Myrtles.  I have three of them in this garden, and I love the bright colors that last all summer long.  What I don't like is the mildew they seem to get afflicted with every year.  I think (and this is my unscientific opinion just from personal observations at previous residences) that the mildew is worse on young plants and once they have got a few summers under their belts, so to speak, the mildew won't be such a problem any more. At least I hope not.

This particular photo was taken on July 7, but a week later it was covered in mildew.  I treated it with a fungicide this past weekend, so I'll wait and see how it does.

Last week in my blog, I included some photos of butterflies on the milkweed, Asclepias curassavica. I think it's now safe to say that other than the daylilies, I have more milkweed growing than I have anything else.

The two original plants (one in the back and one in the front) reseeded so freely, they are everywhere :-)

It's just as well we rarely use our front door, using instead the interior door from the garage to the house, because you almost need a machete to get through these milkweed to the door!

Ditto the garage.  "Fideaux", my husband's venerable Toyota, has to plough through a jungle to park.

And they keep popping up!

So I potted some up to share with my neighbors :-)

To conclude my blog post tonight, here's my favorite photo that I took this week -- a bumble bee on the Vitex. As with all the photos, if you click on it, you can see it full size.

Have a great week!

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