All Hail Hymenoxys

Posted on March 19, 2015 by Tina

All hail, indeed!! For those gardeners living in Texas and northwestward states to Colorado, as well as southward into Mexico, it’s a tough proposition to find a longer blooming, better-behaved, cheery daisy to place in the garden than the perennial Hymenoxys, Tetraneuris scaposa.

Commonly called Four-nerve Daisy (because of the veins inside the petals, which the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center describes as “dark purple,” but look green to me),

…it’s also known as Stemmy Four-nerve Daisy, Yellow Daisy, and Bitterweed. It’s a ray of sunshine, year-round, in the home garden or along the highway.

I first planted Hymenoxys over 20 years ago in a spot in my backyard when I began the conversion from a high-maintenance lawn to a low-maintenance, native plants garden. The one I planted didn’t last long and that was because I planted it in a shady spot. I’ve made lots of mistakes like that over the years and (hopefully) have learned from those mistakes. That’s the best garden education there is–screw up, learn, redo correctly. Or at least redo; some of us take longer to learn than others of us. Over the years, I was enamored and distracted with other aster perennials and never replanted Hymenoxys in my gardens. When I designed the long, narrow Driveway Garden in spring 2014, I purchased and planted three Hymenoxys daisies. I knew they would be great additions to this garden,

…and so they are. These sweet, dancing-in-the-breezes daisies have bloomed non-stop since being popped in the ground a year ago.

Borne from an evergreen clump of slender grey-green foliage,

…the leafless stems, the ‘scape’ of scaposa, rise about 6-8 inches, topped by a single daisy. The stems show a slightly purple tinge (which I do see as purple),

….and in all phases of flower development, the blooms are attractive.

The petals are bright yellow and each ends in three lobes.

Hymenoxys is a perennial that works well in many styles of gardens, including sparse rock/succulent gardens and lush perennial beds. Hymenoxys is a small plant, so it’s best placed in the front of a bed, rather than behind something that will tower or flop over it. That’s one of the reasons I remembered Hymenoxys for my Driveway Garden–it’s very tidy and doesn’t grow huge like so many perennial shrubs. It fits well in a narrow spot.

It will seed out prolifically if planted in good soil. I don’t view that as a bad thing, though I’m sure I’ll eventually have to toss some seedlings into the compost because I won’t have any other spot in my gardens to plant the new additions. This past fall, I transplanted some seedlings from the mother plants,

…and they’ve flourished. Of course they have.

My patch of Hymenoxys bloomed all winter and that’s another great quality about this plant, its remarkably long bloom time.

Hymenoxys is tolerant of a variety of soil types and is heat and drought resistant during our long summers. The flowers attract pollinators–I’ve seen bees and butterflies at mine. Additionally, drum roll please, Hymenoxys is highly deer resistant.

Wow! The perfect plant!

Unless you’re not fond of pretty yellow flowers!

A Quirky Owl

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Tina

Since Mama Screech vanquished the squirrel-squatter, she appears to be settling in for brooding quite nicely. In the past 7 years of hosting these beautiful birds in my gardens, observance of the parent owls has been limited to early mornings (REALLY early) and evenings as one or the other parent quits the box for the nightly hunting forays. Typically, I can observe one, or both, owls only for a few minutes, mostly as flashes and ghostly quiet movements between trees.

The mama owls that I’ve had in my gardens stay inside the brood house during the day for some of the time once eggs are laid, but I have rarely seen the mammas peering out during the day, except for early evening as the sleepy heads are awakening from the daily snoozing and before they’re “on” as nocturnal critters. As the time approaches for the owlets to hatch, the mammas tend to spend more time in the brood box and once the owlets hatch (April-ish), mammas are in the box full-time, with dads posted in nearby trees, attending fatherly duties and keeping a close watch on their little owl families. It’s during this time that I have regularly seen the mammas, their little Screech Owl faces positioned in the hole of the box, for longer periods during the day. If birds are squawking, squirrels are curious, or there’s any action in the garden, the mammas appear and are alert and visible to ward off possible dangers facing their owlets.

Each year that owls have settled in and raised a family has proven different from the last. The first year, the owls were all over–I saw that couple and their offspring almost daily. Last year, the owls were shy and discreet and I barely knew they were in residence and that was true for both the parents and their owlets. Other years, I’ve regularly seen owls in nearby trees, sometimes not at all.

This year there is a different dynamic unfolding.

I fretted that Squirrel Nut-twerp would inhabit the box before the owls could lay their claim, but that’s no longer of much concern. Now I’m anxious that Mama isn’t getting a good day’s sleep as she prepares for motherhood. She’s awake and semi-awake, her little face perched in the hole throughout daylight hours. Here’s a brief pictorial of Mama Owl in her various moods these past few days:

pensive,

…curious,

…concerned,

…annoyed,

…and really annoyed.

My theory on her diurnal awake state is that she’s a new mama and is keeping close tabs on her surroundings–but I could be totally off-base. She’s not bothered by anything in particular–she watches the cats and dog when they stroll into her line of sight and pokes her head out when the birds are especially noisy, but seems nonplussed. One morning, I saw a squirrel (Nut-twerp?) scramble along the branch and stand on the top of the brood box. Mama Owl clicked her beak in warning and retreated into the box. The squirrel skittered off.

Mama Owl isn’t unduly upset with us humans, either. I had friends over Saturday evening, (for pi/pie day, what else??) and they all trooped out to look at the bees and the owl–she wasn’t fazed at all by being the center of attention and their oohing and ahhing at her darlingness. She just looked at us, unimpressed, and blinked her big sage-green eyes.

She’s retired into her box more in the last 24 hours, so I’m hoping she’s getting some much-needed rest. Mama work is hard–especially when you work the night-shift.

Bloom Day, March 2015

Posted on March 14, 2015 by Tina

March is here, blooms are here and Northern Hemisphere gardeners are grateful that winter is (for the most part) taking a hike. Done and done with winter 2014-15! Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting this monthly musing on blooms.

There’s not a lot of flower power wowing my Austin, Texas gardens for this bloom day, but what is blooming is very, very welcome and the yellows currently rule.

Carolina Jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens, is a new vine for me and it’s making its presence known.

For now, it’s hiding behind a White Mistflower, Ageratina havanensis, because the vine is small and not yet grown to its height and width.

By this time next year it will crown the Mistflower shrub, full of early spring sunshine-bright blooms as it clings to its trellis.

Golden Groundsel, Packera obovata, is another ray of cheer gracing my March garden.

This Columbine,

…is a hybrid of the natives Aquilegia chrysantha and Aquilegia canadensis, both of which grow in my gardens. This lovely displays the blush of pink in the sepals and spurs common to hybrids, rather than the purity of yellow seen in A. chrysantha (Hinckley) or the brick-red and yellow combination of A. canadensis.

For me, the blooming columbines, no matter what their color, herald spring’s arrival.

Coral Honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, is a tough Texas plant with eye-popping blooms.

This vine blossoms for much of the growing season, but March through June it drips with coral-red clusters.

Rosa ‘Martha Gonzales’ Rose, unfolded its first brilliant red-pink bloom this week–there will be plenty more of the same throughout the year.

And the Rosa, ‘Mutabilis’ issued an invitation for pollinators to visit.

I find this rose blooms beautifully throughout spring, sometimes in fall and in mild winters, but not so during our long, hot summer. Year-round though it offers cover and refuge for the various finches and wrens, as well as the Cardinals, so I’m happy to keep it in the back of the garden.