It’s A Bird! It’s A Lizard! It’s A Meme!

Posted on June 27, 2014 by Tina

Wildlife Wednesday. It’s coming your way.

On the first Wednesday of each month, beginning on July 2, 2014, please join in sharing your blog posts about wildlife visitors in your gardens.

When I told my son that I was starting a meme on my blog to promote posts about wildlife gardening, he was very happy that I had joined 2008. He asked if I knew what a meme was. “Yes,” I said, smugly, “I looked it up on Wikipedia!” He rolled his eyes.

Punk.

I’m not much of a photographer. Oh sure, I take the occasional good photograph–clear, well-framed, decent color. In short, all the things you want in a presentable photograph. And, that’s about it. Presentable. I don’t blog to show off photographic prowess, because I possess little of that. (I’m not entirely sure why I’m blogging, but that’s fodder for another post.) I admire those bloggers who are terrific photographers and take the time to identify their subjects and teach the rest of us a thing or two.

I think that’s why gardeners blog. Gardeners love sharing what they’ve experienced in their gardens and learning from others’ mistakes or successes. Blogging promotes development of large, overlapping and active garden interests. Each blogger is a unique voice in garden blogging. Maybe we love wildflowers and native plants or enjoy garden design. Perhaps we’re interested in sustainable/ecologically appropriate gardening methods or we wish to share our triumphs and/or failures with vegetable/fruit production. Whatever motivates our gardening and blogging interests, our alliance with wildlife is an intrinsic part of the gardening process.

So let’s join together every first Wednesday of the month, starting next Wednesday, July 2 and post about wildlife in our gardens. Whether silly or serious,

beneficial,

or pesky,

(especially when they’re stealing tomatoes), write and photograph about the who’s and what’s in your garden.

On Wildlife Wednesday I’ll ask that you leave a comment on my post with a link to yours so readers can enjoy a variety of posts about wild critters in gardens.

Next Wednesday, July 2, 2014. Wildlife Wednesday!!

For more information about wildlife gardening, visit the Garden for Wildlife link of the National Wildlife Federation.

Wildflower Wednesday, June 2014

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Tina

Summer is in full swing in Austin–heat, blooms, heat, blooms. I tire of the heat and humidity, but beautiful native wildflowers thrive in our sticky summers and today is the day to show them off. Thanks to Gail at clay and limestone for hosting and promoting the use of native plants and wildflowers in the home garden.

A few years ago at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center’s fall native plant sale, I bought a Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia hirta.

It was a total impulse purchase and I’m glad for that particular lack of impulse control! Each spring, this little annual (for me) pops up in a different place in my gardens. This year? It’s on the back patio, keeping the potted bougainvillaea company. I’ll let it seed out this summer and who knows where it will appear next summer.

I must share a photo or two of my wonderful Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea.

The quintessential summer perennial in my gardens, Coneflowers are tough, happy summer flowers. They are great for pollinators and also are terrific as cut flowers indoors, if you’re so inclined.

The Zexmenia, Wedelia texana, began blooming a little late this year, but is in full force now.

Zexmenia is a lovely Texas flowering perennial and performs no matter how hot it is in Austin.

I often pair Zexmenia with Rock Rose, Pavonia lasiopetala, in my gardens.

From morning through mid-afternoon, the combination of the pink Rock Rose and the yellow Zexmenia is pretty and fresh. Both perennials require little water and are favorites of native pollinators. The hibiscus-like flowers of Rock Rose close with the heat mid-afternoon, leaving the yellow Zexmenia to go it alone until the next sunrise.

A few years ago, I collected seeds of Drummond’s Ruellia, Ruellia drummondiana. I caught the first bloom of the season recently.

This ruellia, which isn’t commonly available, doesn’t usually begin blooming fully until mid-to-late summer. I was tickled to see one open early in the growing season. It looks like the ants are happy about that too!

The ‘Henry Duelberg’ Salvia, Salvia farinacea ‘Henry Duelberg’ still sports its pretty bloom spikes.

It’ll bloom until it’s too hot, then the ‘Henry’ rests, renewing its bloom cycle again with cooler autumn temperatures. I’ll prune the ‘Henry’ to keep it tidy until its fall bloom cycle.

Turk’s Cap, Malvaviscus arboreus, is an excellent summer bloomer and another favorite of mine.

It’s a superb wildlife plant as well: hummingbirds, bees and butterflies love its bright red blossoms and the birds devour its fruits in the fall. It grows as a thick shrub, so many lizards, birds and insects shelter in it.

The cheerful Engelmann’s Daisy, Engelmannia peristenia, should bloom through mid-summer.

One reason I chose this wildflower for my gardens is that I noticed how many bees visit it in other gardens. That hasn’t been true for this daisy this year and I’m not sure why, but Engelmann’s Daisy is still a bright spot in the garden.

Lastly, this is a nice conglomeration of summer beauties together:

Two native Texas perennials I haven’t profiled today, Damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana, and Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius, are blooming in this photo. Usually, the Damianita takes a break in the summer after its profusion of spring blossoms. Rock Penstemon is a hardy summer/fall bloomer.

What native wildflowers are in your garden? For more wildflower goodness from many places, check out clay and limestone and its celebration of June wildflowers.

Fabulous Foeniculum

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Tina

By Austin standards, temperatures for spring and summer of 2014 have been mild to downright cool. While still drier than normal, there has been some rain. I think those factors explain the exuberance of this Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare.

This guy is four and a half feet tall! Where does he think he is? Oregon?? I planted this particular specimen a year or two ago–it’s bumbled along for some time and since last fall, it grew.

And grew. I plant Fennel (and Dill, as well) to attract butterflies to my garden. Fennel is the host plant for several species of swallowtail butterflies. The adult butterfly lays her eggs on the Fennel, the eggs hatch and the caterpillars eat until they’re ready for their trip through the chrysalis and to eventual butterfly-hood. Sometimes a chrysalis will form on the Fennel itself,

but usually the large caterpillar transforms into its adult self elsewhere. Either way, planting Fennel is helpful in assuring a regular population of swallowtail butterflies.

I haven’t hosted hoards of caterpillars and resulting butterflies this year,

just a few, here and there.

And the caterpillars haven’t eaten the Fennel to the ground. Yet. Though they are efficient at stripping the foliage from the stems.

I have a dedicated butterfly garden in a different part of my gardens, as well.

I planted these Bronze and Green Fennel for the swallowtails last fall, along with some transplanted Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica, for the Monarchs. The Fennel has thrived, though the Milkweed froze in the winter and has been very slow to return.

Which is just as well as I didn’t spot one Monarch in my gardens during spring migration. Not. One. Monarch. That is scary and sad.

The Fennel provides food for swallowtails and some delicious salad sprigs–for me, that is. Several of my Fennel are beginning to bolt, which entails producing flower umbels,

and going to seed.

I’m snipping the flower panicles off to keep the Fennel in a growing mode, but summer heat will continue to encourage the bolting process. Fennel has survived summer before in my gardens and if it doesn’t get too hot this year, it could happen again. Time will tell.

The Fennel has been beautiful for these past eight months. Foliage is the main attraction with Fennel, for people and butterfly larvae. Delicate and lacy–it is also winter hardy, so it’s great to plant in the fall. It can overwinter, grow and be ready for butterfly happenings in the spring and summer. I’m particularly fond of Bronze Fennel and usually choose that variety though I plant both the Green and the Bronze Fennel in my gardens.

Butterflies don’t discriminate–their larvae munch on both. Fennel is a lovely, but unreliable, landscape plant. Gardeners must understand that the caterpillars will eat Fennel, possibly to the ground. And here in Austin, if the caterpillars don’t trash the Fennel, the heat will. I recommend that if you plant Fennel, be sure to situate it amongst other summer blooming perennials, so that when the Fennel disappears (either because of caterpillars or summer temperatures), there isn’t a gaping hole left in your garden.

Don’t even think about planting Fennel right now–that would amount to a major garden fail! Plant Fennel in your gardens next fall, when it’s cooler and there is some regular rain.
In time, you’ll have a beautiful garden addition, some yummy herbs for your salad and cooking pleasure, and an excellent host plant for beautiful butterflies.