Author Archives: Tina

About Tina

I’ve gardened in Austin, Texas (zone 8b) since 1985. I garden with low maintenance, native and well-adapted non-native plants to conserve water and reduce workload. I also choose plants which attract wildlife to my gardens. I’ve completed the Travis County Master Gardener and Grow Green program (through the city of Austin). I’ve volunteered for a number of public and private gardens, as well as consulted and designed for private individuals. Formerly, I managed Shay’s Green Garden at Zilker Botanical Gardens and Howson Library Garden for the City of Austin. My garden is a certified Monarch Waystation and a Wildlife Habitat.I blog about my garden adventures at: https://mygardenersays.com/ I love blooming things and the critters they attract. Tina Huckabee

September Blooms

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Come September, gardens and gardeners in Austin, Texas, zone 8b, breathe a sigh of *qualified* relief, thankful that we’re mostly through the long hot, the searing sun, and the toasty dry.   Come September, very welcome rain usually occurs and even a couple of lame cool fronts puff through, cooling things off (however briefly) and all but ending the truly hot and ushering in the merely warm.  It is still warm, downright hot many afternoons, but our second spring–a flush of autumn blooming–is just beginning.

Turk’s cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, blooms from early May until November, but peak in floriferousness (turns out, that’s a word!) during the last few months of their bloom cycle, just in time for migrating monarchs and ready-to-migrate hummingbirds.

Accompanying the Turk’s cap during the long growing season are potted bougainvillea, a Mexican feather grass, and an American agave–sun worshipers, all.

 

Rock rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, rests during July and August, gifting to the gardener only a stingy few shockingly pink delights during those hot months.  But add a little rain and the pink petals produce a pow-wow.

Late summer rain sets these lovelies up for a profusion of tiny flowers until the days are short and cool and their blooming cycle is complete for the year.

 

Mexican orchid tree, Bauhinia mexicana, have an on-and-off bloom cycle, except from late July and through hot August when this native of northern Mexico enjoys a bit of a siesta during the hottest time of the year.  As soon as the weather patterns gentle up the blooms bust out.

 

Busting out is also a good description of the masses of frothy pink bloom clusters that  Barbados cherry, Malpighia glabra, produce after some needed precipitation.

Most of the year, this large shrub lacks these floral decorations and is green, dense and provides good cover for birds, lizards, and other assorted critters.  But with spring and fall rains, blooms develop (to the cheers of the gardener) followed by luscious red fruits  (favored by many birds).  The dainty clusters attract all sorts of pollinators and fill the air with a fragrance reminiscent of baby powder.

A pretty plant which provides so much for so many.  Win!

I’m linking with Carol at May Dreams Gardens for her monthly bloom huzzah.  Check out her blog for more bloomin’ love!

 

Always a Surprise

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Every September, I’m surprised–and unsurprised–at the overnight emergence of the clusters of Oxblood lily, Rhodophiala bifida, in my gardens.

The September surprise begins with the fleshy stems, which push through newly rained upon soil and which I observe if I’m actually looking for them.  But it’s usually the riot of red atop those stems that catches my attention.  And how could I miss that scream of scarlet? 

These shockingly crimson blooms emerge at the end of our long summers and after the first fall rains.  Not native to Texas, these beauties originated in various parts of South America.  Oxbloods were brought to Texas by an early Texas botanist, Peter Oberwetter and have naturalized throughout much of the state, gracing lawns, natural areas, and gardens–including my own.  The blooms sit only about 12 inches from the ground and last a week or so.  Often, though not this year, my various groups pop up and bloom at different times, extending the bloom period to as much as a month.  This year, they’ve all burst open at once.  Once the blooms are done, slender, striped foliage emerges and remains evergreen throughout winter, disappearing sometime in late spring.  The Oxblood lily bulbs hunker down for the hot summer.  Smart bulbs! 

The strappy leaves you see accompanying the blooms in the photos belong to another plant, the native Texas craglily, Echeandia texensis, which are revving up their autumn blooming, too. 

As I sat on the ground to get these shots, several metallic sweat bees buzzed around the blooms, but I couldn’t get more than a smear of bee in any of the photos, so I settled for pure flowers.  It’s affirming to see the pollinators active and attracted to these blooms.  A little ways from where I sat, a hummingbird worked a different set of red flowers and I’ll bet that after I left the scene, Ms. Hummer came by for a sip. 

Surprises in the garden really aren’t surprises, are they?  We know the garden is dynamic, we know there’s always something new, something evolving, something different.  We just need to pay attention to the somethings.

For more surprises–or not–check out Anna’s Flutter and Hum and Wednesday’s Vignette!

Green With Envy: Wildlife Wednesday, September 2020

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On lucky days my garden is graced by some of Austin’s resident, non-native, Monk Parakeets.  Usually it’s a small group of two or three gregarious greens flying over and cawing loudly to let everyone know they’re in the neighborhood.  Occasionally, one or two of these gorgeous birds will pop in, perch in my trees, and purloin some seeds.  The munching Monks have generally favored the black-oiled sunflower feeder, but recently, this one decided that safflower seeds were just the thing it craved.

That said, the green-with-envy bird could only look, smack its formidable beak in anticipation, and wait patiently above the popular bird seed feeder, because the House Finches, Haemorhous mexicanus, are currently the dominate guests at the safflower food tube. 

Safflower seeds are all the rage, it seems.

While the Monk Parakeet waited, two hatch-year females took their time enjoying the seeds, no doubt frustrating the colorful giant.  Most days, each of the four safflower feeding stations are filled with finches and there was a bumper crop of fledglings this year, so there’s currently lots of finch action in my garden, in the trees and on the feeders.  I enjoy observing the House Finches:  they’re attractive, chatty birds with pretty songs and calls and they chirp with charm as they chop their seeds.   The females are striped in brown and cream, as are the males, who also blush red on their breasts, heads, and under wings.

Eventually, the petite finches became safflower-sated and the parakeet got the feeder to itself.  Austin’s Monk Parakeets are descendants of pets released over the past 50 years or so.  The Monks have adapted well here, as they have in other North American cities.  Monk Parakeets, Myiopsitta monachus, are native to South America and live communally, building large nests atop utility poles and tall trees.  As far as I’m aware, the Monks haven’t negatively impacted the environment or displaced any native birds.  It’s not unusual to see Monks hanging out with glossy, gleaming black-to-brown Great-tailed and Common Grackles, especially in open areas.  The birds all congenially march along, pack-like, gleaning seeds or insects from the ground before taking flight to trees, bright green wings in contrast and complement to the black iridescent ones. 

On some rare occasions, fires have erupted in and on the large Monk stick nests built at the top of electric poles, which obviously isn’t good either for the birds or the people and other critters who live below.  In the interest of safety, Austin’s fire department pull down nests built in questionable places which is a bummer for the Monk Parakeets, but better for all concerned.

My visiting Monk Parakeet was almost, but not quite, too big for the feeder.  It maneuvered around the feeder somewhat awkwardly, taking seeds successfully.

And while the green machine ate, look who had to rustle up some self-restraint and wait her turn. 

Who’s green–or brown and white–with envy now?

I hope your garden has some wild goings on and happy wildlife gardening!  Also, pop over to Flutter and Hum for garden vignettes;  there’s always a story there to enjoy.