Winged Wonders II

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

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.

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 regular services. 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

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

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

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.