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Annie in Austin
Welcome! As "Annie in Austin" I blog about gardening in Austin, TX with occasional looks back at our former gardens in Illinois. My husband Philo & I also make videos - some use garden images as background for my original songs, some capture Austin events & sometimes we share videos of birds in our garden. Come talk about gardens, movies, music, genealogy and Austin at the Transplantable Rose and listen to my original songs on YouTube. For an overview read Three Gardens, Twenty Years. Unless noted, these words and photos are my copyrighted work.
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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Snapping After Midnight

Although it didn't fall in my neighborhood, other parts of Austin got a little rain yesterday. Closer to San Antonio, Victory Gardener Pamela Price rejoiced on Twitter that 4" of precious water arrived at her garden. Send some showers in this direction! Temperatures are hovering closer to 90°F than 100°F this week. We need only one more day over 100°F to tie the all-time record and 2 to smash it. Now public wishes for one more heat spike have popped up all over Twitter. Or as MSS of Zanthan put it, "We've come this far and !#$#@* we want the record."
Couldn't have said it better myself! We do want it!


Even though some of the garden is wheat-colored, just a little hand-watering was enough to make my favorite annual combination of Moonflower vine and Blue Butterfly Pea climb to the top of the obelisk and bloom again.

AnnieinAustin, Moonflower on ObeliskI went out after midnight and snapped this photo of them entwined. In past years they've bloomed through October - always welcome, but never so much as in this year when usually dependable plants have died or have no flowers.


My daughter Lilly wondered how big the moonflowers are but the tape measure couldn't be found. I held the lovely flower in my big ol' peasant hand - the edge of the petals almost seemed to ripple in the dark, like a butterfly instead of a flower.
AnnieinAustin, Moonflower in my hand

Did anyone else think of Patsy Cline when you read the post title? September 8th was the day she was born - here's a video clip of her singing "Walking After Midnight". I'll be humming that tune next time the camera and I take a midnight stroll.


12 comments:

  1. Well Annie, here's hoping that you will set that %$#@&^!! record! LOL

    Those moonflowers are pretty and big, they are pretty big! ;-)

    Thanks for the Patsy Kline vid, I had heard of her eventhough she's before my time.

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  2. NOBODY can belt out a song quite like Pasty--I grew up listening to her on the radio--Love her!

    I don't wanna have any more triple digits--E-V-E-R! It is so totally not fair that someone in Austin got 4 inches! Here in Round Rock, I got nada!

    Your Moonflower and Blue Butterfly Pea are striking. I'm glad you have been able to keep them alive. I am hopeful our gardens will start to rebound now that cooler, wetter weather is forecasted.

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  3. Your extra efforts have paid off with that Gorgeous bloom! I didn't realize it was that huge. I do hope you get in on some of that rain action.

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  4. Wow - Annie. That first night shot is stunning. What dedication for you to stay up to go out and do that!

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  5. Actually, when I read the title I thought perhaps the heat had finally driven you over the edge:) Record or not, I couldn't take too many triple digit days without becoming a total grouch. The moonflower is beautiful; I really need to plant one of these next year. Well, now that I think about it, I did--it just didn't grow:) Nobody could sing like Patsy!

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  6. I'm sorry you didn't get any. We got 2.75"! Yay! Especially after last week when twice I watched it move around us and hit central Austin and then south. Everything will be so happy when the sun comes out. Plants just thrive on rainwater, better than tap water.

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  7. Hi Annie,

    That is quite an impressive Moonflower! What a striking photo you captured. You're right, it really does look like there is a ripple effect. Beautiful! (I definitely need a new camera).

    As for the !#$#@* record: We certainly deserve it after this freaky summer. Whew!

    Cheers!
    Dawn, doing a Rain Dance

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  8. Hi Annie.

    That is one great looking moonflower, and it DOES look like the wings of a butterfly. I am right there with you on having quite a few "wheat-colored" plants. My ornamental grasses have taken quite a hit this year, I thought these would have breezed through the drought!

    Hope you finally got some decent rains. ESP.

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  9. The record is looking a little iffy today, Yolanda Elizabet- over 6" of rain since Friday morning, and temperatures under 80F/27C!
    I was a kid when Patsy Cline died in a plane crash but her songs were a hit 20 years later on the soundtrack when Jessica Lange played Patsy in Sweet Dreams.

    Hi Morning Glories in Round Rock - c'mon, don't be a spoilsport! Just 2 more little hot days?

    I'm pretty sure you got the same drenching we did yesterday - yay!
    These two vines are on an obelisk less than 10 feet from the hose bib - frequent small hits works for them.

    My daughter's question made me notice, too, Mr McGregor's Daughter. The rain has been great!

    Oh, Diana - it's less dedication than a tendency to stay up later the older I get!

    You are not far wrong, Prairie Rose - the edge has been pretty close for months! As long as I know there's A/C waiting inside I can work in hot shade...it's the sun that drives me inside!
    Some years the Moonflower vines did great in Illinois - others not so great...keep trying!

    Being skipped over was making me very worried Mandi! Now I hope everyone got some of this wonderful water.

    My point-and-shoot can't seem to get good daytime shots of white flowers, Dawn, but the night ones come out better. Some cameras have a setting for white blooms - also have a sports/fast setting, which I don't have either. But the moonflower wasn't going anywhere!
    Your rain dance worked!

    Thanks for the comments,

    Annie

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  10. Hi ESP - your comment hadn't shown when I hit post - the yard is a mess! But at least it's a wet mess!

    I hadn't taken down all the dead stuff because at least they put shade on the ground and their surviving neighbors...lots of cleanup ahead. Hope your grasses rebound!

    Annie

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  11. Hi Annie. I'm like you...staying up later the older I get. I think blogging has something to do with it, but I've always been a bit of a nightowl.
    Those are a couple of great shots of the moonflower. It has a satiny sheen, doesn't it? Really a thing of beauty. Makes me want to try growing one.
    I'm so glad something has survived the awful drought and heat you've had. You certainly do deserve to break the record after all that suffering! LOL
    I've never listened much to Patsy Cline, but I loved her singing that song. She had a great voice. How sad that she died so tragically. Thanks for sharing that. I'll be singing it in my mind all night now ;)

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  12. Annie, Have you been to Nashville? You would love the acoustics at the Ryman Auditorium from where the Grand Ole Opry used to be broadcast. I love her song 'Crazy'!

    Love the big white flowers of moonflower...Mine hasn't bloomed as nicely this year as in others.

    gail

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A comment from you is like chocolate - maybe I could live without it, but life is more fun with it. I'll try to answer. If someone else's comment piques your interest, please feel free to talk among yourselves.