The Purpling

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Tina

Days are noticeably shorter now in late August. Darkness greets my morning alarm and birds are quiet until well after I’m up and about. Nightfall appears earlier, much more than a mere few weeks ago. Autumn is palpable, though certainly not with cooler temperatures, at least not here in Central Texas. Our daily (today marked number 43) century-plus numbers are still in play, but seasonal change is afoot.

This cluster of beauty berries showcases the transformation from green to purple. The bird poop on the leaves is extra decoration.

In the last couple of weeks, the American beautyberry, Callicarpa americana, has slipped out of its summer wardrobe and donned its hooray for autumn swag. Eye-candy for the gardener and nutritious fruits for birds, the green, clustered drupes, grown since June from the remains of dainty pink blooms, have morphed to brilliant, metallic purple berries.

Green fruits,

…to purple.

This particular shrub in my back garden is about 3 years old and finally exhibiting its graceful arching form.

Berries are cream-to-green, but purple-up over 7-10 days . Triggered by the maturity of the drupe (and maybe light?), it’s a seasonal change I look forward to each hot August.

It gives me hope for the autumn to come.

Berries gather like bunches of party balloons along the branches of the shrub, the purple overwhelming the green, ready to pop in some lucky bird’s beak.

This beautyberry will grow larger, eventually filling the area of this small garden.

This beautyberry is the same age as the one above, but I transplanted it to a different spot in my front garden exactly one year ago.

Beautyberry is a good shade plant, though this one receives more sun than the back garden beautyberry. I’ve noticed that it’s grown more quickly, but has also required more water. In fact, the slight droop of the leaves in this photo indicates a thirsty plant. Since June, I’ve watered this shrub once per week, significantly more than the back garden beautyberry, which grows in shade.

In my garden, Blue Jays and Mockingbirds are the main consumers of these berries. Some years, the beautyberry greedy birds descend and devour the berries just as they turn color; other years, the berries remain on the shrub well into winter, the birds obviously getting sustenance somewhere else.

And that’s fine with me.

I prefer those years when the birds let me enjoy the beauty of the berries, at least for a time.

Purple Reign

Posted on March 20, 2018 by Tina

Purple is the color of the week in my garden.

A purple Spiderwort flanks a potted Ghost plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense), setting the mood for a reign of purple.

Oh sure, there’s yellow, red, and orange too, all vying for attention with their look at me! petals and am I not gorgeous? spring-green foliage. But it’s the purple array of Spiderwort–demonstrating pollinator-driven color and petal variations–that is stealing the wildflower show at this moment in my March garden.

Some Spiderwort flowers are darker and suggest an affinity for geometric arrangements.

The petals are curling, heralding afternoon heat.

Other Spiderwort flowers trend pink, though purple is definitely a part of the petal pedigree.

Still other Spiderwort are shy and soft in color, with hint of blue and only a suggestion of exhibitionist purple.

The pollinators are busy, busy, busy and Spiderwort blooms are a favorite dining spot! This diminutive syrphid fly caught my attention as I was chasing a significantly larger butterfly. I failed at photographing the butterfly, but I followed the syrphid, or flower fly, as it visited several Spiderwort blooms. The syrphid was a work-horse pollinator at the flowers, spending more time at each bloom than the flighty butterfly.

Part of the honey for next season will come from this Spiderwort and its farming honeybee.

Check out Ms. Honeybee’s pollen pantaloons. The proper name for this part of the honeybee is pollen basket or corbicula, but I prefer my own addition to bee etymology: pollen pantaloon.

Purple reigns in the garden, though it–in the form of Spiderwort–hasn’t quite taken over. If I want a diverse garden community next year, I’ll need to cull a fair number of these randy Spiderwort plants–they’re rather a promiscuous bunch! That’s fine, I’ll be donating some to plant swaps and cajoling neighbors into planting some of my extras. (But will those neighbors ever speak to me again, after they, too, reap the bounty of Spiderwort?)

A stalk of purple passalong iris photobombs the cluster of spiderwort. In time, this iris and its compadres will likely assume the mantle of purple.

Spiderwort: a reign of purple and a prince of flowers.

Spring Forward

Posted on March 12, 2018 by Tina

Clocks have been dutifully moved forward and we’re all a bit sleep-deprived. The great outdoors reveals daily–sometimes hourly–changes as spring happens. Vibrant green, accompanied by pops of color, appear at every turn as I enjoy a post-sunrise stroll through the garden.

Demanding my eyes turn toward the ground is this blast of sunshine in flower form, Golden groundsel, Packera obovata, .

Adjacent to the groundsel, one of my two Mountain laurel trees, Sophora secundiflora, calms the groundsel’s screaming yellow with dripping blue-purple clusters.

The other Mountain laurel boasts blooms whose faces reach toward the emerging blue sky, enjoying the warming sun.

Not outdone by either yellow or purple, a Crossvine, Bignonia capreolata, showcases belled blossoms for pollinators, though in early morning, no visitors have arrived.

Giant spiderwort, Tradescantia gigantea, currently dominates the floral palette of the back garden. A passalong plant from years ago, it is a triumphant spreader of royal purple.

This Spiderwort group decorates the front garden; no doubt, it will also seed out, given the work of the bees.

The Spiderwort cluster pairs with two second-year Martha Gonzales roses.

Burgundy in foliage and scarlet in petals, this tough rose is a must-have for my garden.

Planted last autumn after Hurricane Harvey laid waste half of an Arizona Ash tree, the happy-faced, tough-as-nails Blackfoot daisy, Melampodium leucanthum, is open for blooming business and will relish the full sun now available.