Pruning, Fretting, and Photos

Posted on July 22, 2024 by Tina

My July garden is humming and buzzing along. With regular rain, and hot–but not yet scorching–typical Texas temperatures, pollinators, birds, and other assorted critters are rejoicing in the bounty of blooms and seeds. The garden is doing what it’s supposed to do: feed wildlife.

Summer is also a good time to reflect (ahem, gnash teeth and fret) about mistakes in the garden. I excel at gnashing and fretting, it’s one of my best things: Why did I plant that there–what was I thinking?? How have l let that beloved, beautiful plant become such a garden bully? That being said, this summer I haven’t spent much time in the garden until recently. Six to eight weeks before our toasty summer moves aside for…less toasty late summer /early autumn, light pruning and dead heading chores a good idea, and as I go, I plan for changes to the garden. While I’m noting problems and tidying messes, I appreciate the garden, where it is and what’s in it, at this moment in time.

American Bumblebees, Bombus pensylvanicus, abound! They’re favoring the remaining American Basket Flowers, Centaurea americana, but also visit the Mexican Orchid tree blooms and other flowers in the Aster family.

I caught this small, green metallic Sweat bee, Halictidae, as it rapidly zipped from flower to flower of the Cenizo shrub, Leucophyllum frutescens. Often called ‘Barometer Bush’ the lavender flowers appear when there is rain possibility. My shrub has bloomed fairly consistently this summer, to the delight of many winged things–and this gardener!

I was observing one of my favorite kinds of bees, the Horsefly-like Carpenter Bee, when I spied this curious character.

I knew it was a fly of some sort, rather than a bee, owing to its one pair of wings and its short antennae, and those impressive eyes. But what kind? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this insect before. Within a couple of clicks, I came across BugGuide’s page on the Southern Bee Killer, Mallophora fautrix. I love the way my bee killer clutches the stem, the rosy flowers of Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii, as colorful companions in the background. And that face, it’s adorable! The fuzzy legs look like they’re ready to spring into action–and they probably did, though I didn’t see it happen. According to information about bee killers, they perch on stems, awaiting a chance at hapless prey, ready to pounce on mostly honeybees and wasps. Well, my garden certainly has plenty of both kinds of meals for this dude. Good eating, bud!

The honeybee population in my garden is somewhat diminished as one of our hives, Woody, absconded earlier in June. If you’d like to read about absconding, this article is a good resource. At Woody’s previous hive check, all seemed well: there was capped and uncapped larvae, indicating a healthy, active queen, and some honey was being made. At the next hive check, shortly before we traveled in mid-June, there was no activity. Nothing. The bees were gone; they ate all the honey before they left, they didn’t say why they left, nor did they leave a forwarding address! I suspect they left because of some heavy rain, but only the bees know why they took off for different digs. I hope they landed in a safe place. Bees abscond sometimes (rain, or heat, or…whatever), but it’s a bummer for a beekeeper. Still, having one hive (which is thriving) to check on every two weeks makes hive checks quicker and I don’t mind that during the hot summer.

There are butterflies in my garden, but only this Large Orange Sulphur, Phoebis agarithe, deigned to stay relatively immobile for long enough to snap a pic. These yellows, and their smaller yellow cousins, are common in the late summer and autumn garden.

This coming week is a week of rain. Rain in July, what a concept! I’ve pruned some plants, now they’ll flush out with renewed glory. I’ve even transplanted some plants–a rarity in mid-summer–and those might just survive. The garden continues its production for summer and is preparing for a new season in just a few short months.

Resting Hairstreak

Posted on June 8, 2023 by Tina

This Gray Hairstreak, Strymon melinus, perched with its well-worn wings open wide, rests after a morning of visiting flowers. This might be a male, as they rest on foliage of shrubs and trees, waiting for a female to show interest in a liaison.

This beauty thrives throughout the continental US and northern Mexico and is common in my garden. I grow some of its host plants, namely several species of mallows. These are small skippers, about an inch in width and length.

Remaining on the leaf of my Mexican Orchid tree for a time, it eventually vacated the leaf for other parts of the garden, no doubt in search of flowers and a mate.

In a busy garden with buzzing bees, fluttering wings, and birdsong, the contemplative moment was a gift.

Sunny, Summer, Sunflowers

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Tina

It’s not been a particularly sunny summer here in normally sun-blasted Central Texas. If it’s not vomiting rain, it’s cloudy and threatening to open up. A break from the Texas sun is okay with me, though having grown up in the Sun Belt, I must admit I’ve grown weary of the dreary.

The volunteer sunflowers haven’t though.

For days on end this summer, these fun annuals have invited sunshine into my garden.

These four–Moe, Larry, Curly–and Shemp–planted themselves on the edge of my front garden.

Acting as Guardians of the Gardens, they’ve grown to height and bloomed, rain or shine, and they will do so until they seed out for the birds–and next summer’s bounty.

The sunflowers along the driveway are growing in hopscotch fashion, spreading their happy flower ways,

…reaching to the sky,

…and leaning into the drive to wave a friendly welcome home to me.

These sunflowers are planted by birds who visit my black-oil sunflower-filled bird feeders. Early each spring, MANY germinate in my gardens and pathways. Actually, only a few seedlings germinate in the gardens proper because I mulch thoroughly, but in the rock walkways, scads of nascent sunflowers develop, most of which end up in the compost. One of the first chores after winter perennial pruning is weeding the dozens of sunflower wannabes. I leave a few, sometimes transplanting one or two to more desirable spots. Then I enjoy the show in late spring and summer.

This year, there’s some variety in flower form, like this giant bloom, caught toward its end,

…or a few that are channeling zinnias,

…and finally, the well-known and loved ray form of this summer staple.

And do they feed anything, you ask? Why, yes they do, as a matter of fact! My honeybees are especially fond of these flowers.

Honeys buzz around the sunflowers all day/everyday, but native bees and flies nectar too, as well as butterflies of all stripes and dots.

Once the flowers are finished, the local finch gangs will come a callin’ to gather their share of nutritious seed, assuring a future sunflower crop for my garden and surrounding areas.

In addition to the non-native, who-knows-where-they-came-from sunflowers, my beloved Goldeneye, Viguiera dentata, have made their floral debut for the year.

Their bloom time is toward the end of summer and gloriously, early fall, but there are June and July previews of the autumn show. Goldeneye feed the same critters as the larger sunflowers with both pollinators and seed spreaders.

Once the birds have eaten their fill of the annual sunflowers and have moved on, I’ll cut down the huge stalks, relegating the remains to my compost bin or yard waste for pick-up to produce Dillo Dirt, a City of Austin soil conditioner.

Summer sunshine.