Greens, Blues, Greys

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Tina

I’m enjoying lovely leafiness which has come into its own in a bed adjacent to the front entrance of my home. Let’s take a wide view to get the bearings of this raised bed.

I planted the Soft Leaf Yucca, Yucca recurvifolia and the Red Yucca, Hesperaloe parviflora as anchor plants in this bed because they are both evergreen and grow to respectable sizes. Most of the other plants are smaller shrubs or groundcover-type perennials: some are evergreen, some are herbaceous perennials, and a couple are annuals. There are also some other native perennials, a smaller yucca, and a native perennial grass, all located out of view of these photos.

Reminding me of tiny hands that are spread wide, I’m pleased with the deeply lobed foliage of this little annual/bi-annual thing, a native Wild Geranium, Geranium carolinianum. It was a gift from birds, or maybe, the wind, but grows well with other pretty-leafed plants.

Tiny, dark green and fragrant leaves of Damianita, combine with soft, frilly poppy leaves, complement the ornate leaves of Wild Geranium.

I noticed one Wild Geranium in the garden a few years ago, left it to seed, and each late winter, more return. I like its sprawling nature, lacy foliage, and sweet, tiny blooms. I’ll pull up all of the individuals soon because a few seeds left assure plants for next spring, but many seeds left guarantee too many future Wild Geraniums–much more weeding work–and who wants that?

The Wild Geranium foliage clamors for well-deserved attention underneath the Red Yucca,

…while a seedling Mexican Feathergrass, Nassella tenuissima echoes the spray of the Red Yucca.

This extravagant set of leaves belongs to another spring annual, a member of the Papaver family, seeds of which were generously gifted to me last year by TexasDeb of the charming Austin Agrodolce.

Poppies popped in my spring garden for many years, seeds of which were given to me by a German friend long ago, but over time they’d declined and last year I had few poppies to ooh and aah over. The new poppy seeds from Deb were a timely and quite welcomed gift. With or without raindrops, I love the scalloped edges of poppy foliage, either alone,

…or in concert with other interesting foliage. This one poppy certainly holds its own alongside the petite grey leaves of Germander Sage, Salvia chamaedryoides, the Wild Geranium, and blooming Damianita, Chrysactinia mexicana–as well as the points of the Soft Leaf Yucca, bearing down on the rest.

A wider look includes both newly planted Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua allowing for some silvery leaf action,

…not to mention a couple of orange beauty blooms.

The Germander Sage was an impulse purchase, but I like it–the blue flowers and grey-green leaves are hard to beat. It’s hardy and easy to grow–a requirement in my garden–and it’s definitely a water-wise addition to this sunny, dry bed.

The sunshiny blooms of the Damiantia almost steal the show from their foliage host and plant partners.

Almost, but perhaps, not quite.

Tidy, smooth leaves of the not-in-bloom Rock Penstemon, Penstemon baccharifolius contrast in form and shape with matte, wavy poppy leaves.

Spiky Twistleaf Yucca, Yucca rupicola appear to reach out from frilly poppy foliage, giving fair warning of their pointy ends as I lean into the garden to weed or photograph.

I’m always poked–somewhere–by those ends. Always.

And from another angle,

…blue-green Soft Leaf Yucca, minty-green poppy foliage, and vivid green Twistleaf Yucca are a verdant combination worthy of any celebration of green in the March garden.

This Green Anole certainly approves–of the straps of the Soft Leaf Yucca, if not of the photographer’s intrusion,

…while his bigger buddy looks askance at me. Does he know how well he reflects the colors of the Soft Leaf Yucca? Or, is it the other way around?

In celebration of the foliage in the March garden, many thanks to Christina and her lovely Creating my own garden of the Hesperides. Check out her Garden Bloggers’ Foliage Day for a look at foliage in many gardens, from many places.

Bee Bed-n-Breakfast

Posted on March 16, 2016 by Tina

I guess the adage if you build it, they will come, is true, or at the very least when building insect hotels, the saying suggests some level of accuracy. For February’s Wildlife Wednesday, I wrote about our building and placing of two insect/bee hotels in the garden. While building these things isn’t necessary to provide homes and nesting spots for bees and other insects, they are fun, quirky additions to a garden and they lend some architectural gravitas to a wildlife habitat.

So far, the houses/hotels have been a big hit with some of the native bees!

Some of the bee holes are filled providing protection and nourishment for the larvae.

Specifically, one set of native bee species, the ~~Blueberry bee,~~ ~~Osmia ribifloris~~, has really taken a shine to the new housing available in the neighborhood. [Upon further reading, I believe that this bee is the Blue Orchard Bee, Osmia lignaria. Both of these bee species are categorized as mason bees and the USDA article (linked above) describes the early spring behavior that exactly matches the behavior of “my” little bees. Regardless, the bees are valuable and desirable pollinators to attract to the home garden. And, they’re really cute and interesting to observe.]

Wayward Osmia ribifloris rescued from my kitchen.

~~I should add that the identification of this bee species is subject to update–if you recognize this beauty and I didn’t identify the bee correctly–please let me know.~~ The ~~O. ribifloris~~ O. lignaria is a mason bee and judging from the holes in masonry of my back patio, I see why this species is categorized thus!

Osmia ribifloris searching for just the right hole for her nest.

Additionally, these bees also build their nests in the screw holes of my two electric leaf blowers and an electric trimmer that I failed to store in the garage prior to the bees deciding that it’s time to raise up their families.

Osmia ribifloris searching for another nesting site.

That’s what I mean when I suggest that insect hotels aren’t required–bees are quite opportunistic and imaginative when finding cozy spots for their progeny. Regardless, the bee hotels are charming and I’m tickled that the bees are using them for their nesting/nursery bed-n-breakfast hotels. Several O. ribifloris have busily laid eggs and safely tucked in those eggs and future larvae.

Fascinating to observe, it takes an individual bee a couple of hours to pack the hole with pollen and soil. In my attempts to photograph the bee action, I stood for periods of time, camera at the ready, watching one, or more, bees at work. Each bee flies into her chosen hole and disappears for upwards of 5 or 6 minutes. Then each zooms out and off again, disappearing for 5-10 minutes while foraging for more nest-building stuff before returning to the hole. The process repeats until the holes are filled almost to the rim.

As the hole fills up with packing material, the bee is visible at the mouth of the hole, working and wiggling her bee magic so the bee babies are well-nurtured as they develop.

What native bees use as “packing material” varies, but it usually includes pollen (often from specific plants), soil/mud, and sometimes leaf material. Ever had perfect little holes taken out of rose leaves? There’s no doubt that was the work of some leafcutter bee variety as she was building her nest.

Not only have the O. ribifloris bees filled the drilled holes, but they’ve utilize the cut bamboo pieces for their nests.

The bamboo hole was filled in one afternoon by the industrious bee.

Since taking these photos, other holes have been filled, but really, how many pollen filled-hole photos do you want to see?

My original plan for the insect hotel was to stack them, one on top of the other in a shady corner of my garden.

But after the squirrels (I always blame garden mischief on the squirrels) knocked them over–several times–it became obvious that a plan B was in order. I hung the smaller of the two on a pillar of the back patio,

…and affixed the larger of the two on the fence. Because the fence-placed bee house wasn’t getting any bee action, and was difficult to get close-up photos of without tromping all over plants and soil, and was soaked during heavy rain, I’ve recently moved it closer to the back patio and in a more protected area.

This is also a spot where I can more easily observe the comings and goings of bees without crushing emerging, or emerged, plants–or tripping over rocks. So far, for whatever unknown reason, I still haven’t seen any bees nesting in that house.

Oddly enough and for now, these O. ribifloris are the only species choosing to nest in the insect hotels, but I don’t think I’ve seen them working any of the many blooms that are currently available in the garden. Perhaps I’m not out in bee-watching mode at the time they’re working flowers, but it is curious that they aren’t bees I typically see in my garden. I haven’t followed any back into the garden while observing their nest-building because I’ve been too focused (more like too distracted) on checking photos I’ve taken of their work in and on the nests. Not following one of these intrepid bees was probably a missed opportunity.

Nonetheless, I’m pleased that native bees of several sorts are plentiful in the garden this spring, busy at their flowering work.

Sweat Bee (Augochloropsis metallica) at a Coral Honeysuckle bloom.

Sweat bee flying in for a bloom landing.

Horsefly-like Carpenter bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis) at a Coral Honeysuckle bloom cluster.

Sweat bee, Lasioglossum spp., at the Golden Groundsel blooms.

Sweat bee (Lasioglossum spp.) (?) at the blooms of Golden Groundsel.

Small carpenter bee (Ceratina sp.)(?) at Golden Groundsel.

Small carpenter bee (Ceratina spp.)(?) at Golden Groundsel.

For more information about native bees and how you can make your garden appealing to them, check out this link from the Xerces Society.

A Parade of Pretties: Bloom Day for March

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Tina

I’m not going to pretend that this post is anything more than a runway fashion show of the botanical kind. What follows is a shameless and giddy celebration of the the bounty of blooming beauty that is early spring in my Austin, Texas, zone 8b, garden.

Golden Groundsel, Packera obovata, hit its flowering stride since last profiled for its beautiful foliage a few weeks ago.

Slender bloom stalks hold aloft the blasts of brilliant yellow,

…and the gardener smiles. Tiny critters of all sorts visit–to rest,

…and pollinate.

I’m not thrilled when a fly makes its way into my kitchen, but am happy to see it sipping the sweet stuff from the Golden Groundsel.

Spiderwort, Tradescantia, plants are strutting their flower-power and keeping the honeybees busy.

This Giant Spiderwort keeps company with garden furniture.

The many Spiderwort clumps my garden enjoy some variability in size and coloration and I suspect that there’s more than one species growing and cross-mingling through the seasons.

Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, a vine hosting dripping clusters of tubular beauty,

…are surrounded by tiny native metallic bees, which I can only manage a vague photograph of.

Actually, that’s not really true, but you’ll have to wait until my own Wildlife Wednesday on April 6th to see some slightly better photos of one of the stunningly gorgeous and fast-flying metallic wild bees.

This Coral Honeysuckle bloom cluster and the not-quite-open Spiderwort look like they’re trying to reach one another for a smooch.

Well, it is spring, you know–the season of love!

Yellow Columbine, Aquilegia chrysantha var. hinckleyana,

Yellow Columbine with blooming Iris.

…and the hybrid between A. chrysantha and A. canadensis, pose beautifully and are available for nectaring, too–if you possess the right proboscis, that is.

Hybrid Columbine with backdrop of orange blooming Mexican Honeysuckle and unopened Iris.

Hybrid Columbine with not yet in bloom day lilies and Yarrow.

The A. canadensis is a smaller, mostly brick-red columbine. But when cross-pollination occurs, the flower of the hybrid is typically larger, with more yellow and a blush of red. Over the years, the columbines in my gardens have hybridized and I’m delighted with nature’s improvisations.

Globe Mallow, Sphaeralcea ambigua, is also open for business, awaiting interviews from native bees. So far, it’s been teeny, tiny bees, too fast for this photographer to capture with any competence.

The first blooms of many-to-come Purple Coneflower, Echinacea purpurea, have unfurled their pinky-purple glory, welcoming spring and their lengthy growing season.

Another first is with this Brazos Blackberry bloom, which heralds more of the same.

Once those flowers are spent, berries will not be far behind. Yum! I can taste the blackberries now–as well as the blackberry cobbler. Bring’em, blooms!

Dancing at the ends of slender bloom stalks all winter and continuing their performance in the spring breezes, the cheery, bouncy Four-nerve Daisy (Hymenoxys), Tetraneuris scaposa, flowers are nearly non-stop bloomers.

Tired of these tidy, singleton blooms? How about this cascade of Blackfoot Daisy, Melampodium leucanthum.

A tough Texas native that is best when growing out of poor soil or rock, this one is content and flowering in my Green Tower, which is where I grow veggies and most of my herbs. The Blackfoot Daisy buddies-up to a thyme plant which also flourishes in the Tower.

Due to the non-winter this year, Mexican Honeysuckle, Justicia spicigera, wasn’t freeze-knocked to the the ground and thus is blooming with orange abandon this early spring.

Mexican Honeysuckle boasts constant pollinator activity, especially from a variety of bees.

Horsefly-like Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa tabaniformis) works the Mexican Honeysuckle flowers.

There’s more where that came from!

There are too many blooms and not enough time to showcase them all–they’ll just have to participate in another parade!

Thanking Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting this monthly bloom frenzy known as Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Share your garden pretties, then click over to her lovely blog to see and learn about blooms from many places.