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It’s already July. The temperature is around 100°F
every day, the world is a mess and good friends are in the hospital and/or
rehab. So what can I do?
I can’t march but I can be registered to vote. I can send contributions to the food bank and Beto and RAICES. I can make phone calls to people in rehab. I can work on my songs. And I can still put up garden photos once in awhile. Here are a few from May.
I can’t march but I can be registered to vote. I can send contributions to the food bank and Beto and RAICES. I can make phone calls to people in rehab. I can work on my songs. And I can still put up garden photos once in awhile. Here are a few from May.
A yellow warbler stopped by on May 3rd. Some of
the little birds like to hop around the bottom of the birdbath fountain… maybe
they feel safer there? They sometimes sip from the side of the stone.
Tiny leaves appeared on the over-wintered Musical Notes
clerodendron/Clerodendrum incisa on May 10th. Every spring I watch
and wait and wonder if this will be the year it stays dormant and doesn’t wake
up. That will no doubt happen some spring but it’s alive this year!
By May 11th both the pomegranate and the
pineapple guava were in bloom. When they flower together the secret garden is
gorgeous and gaudy. Unfortunately they never do make any fruit (the orchardist
equivalent of All Hat and No Cattle?) but what lovely hats.
A couple of days later the fragrant double Mock Orange was
in bloom. A decade ago I carried a tiny rooted piece from my parents’ home in
Illinois here to my Texas garden. Their house belongs to other people now but I
have this sweet memory.
I had an Oak Leaf Hydrangea in Illinois 20 years ago and am
glad I tried it here. The shrub does well in partial shade but that comes with
a side effect in my yard. The pecan trees create shade but they also drop vast
amounts of spent pollen tassels on everything under their canopy.
Most of the daylilies had flowers but the number of stalks
and blooms was half of what they can do in a good year. 'Best of Friends’ is
pleasing even with fewer stalks and flowers.
Before snapping this photo I should have groomed the daylily
by removing the spent flower. This is ‘Echo Canyon’ and it’s a spider daylily.
Did you watch or read about any of the Royal Wedding? Some
articles mentioned the components of Meghan Markle’s bouquet as being myrtle.
My dwarf Greek myrtle had quarter-sized flowers in bloom that day. I think the myrtle grown in
England is slightly different but this variety can survive in Austin, it’s
fragrant and pretty and bouquet-worthy!
The original division of this Shasta daisy came from a dear
friend fifteen years ago.
Last year I noticed a small shrubby plant that had popped up
in a border. It looked vaguely familiar so I let it grow until fall. After it
went dormant I chopped it down to 12 inches. The plant woke up, made leaves and
by May 28th a few flowers had opened. So far it looks like an
American Beautyberry/ Callicarpa americana but I’m not sure yet. Will this gift
from the birds be a good gift or a bad surprise?
This post May 2018 Garden Scrapbook was written by Annie in
Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog
Yay Annie! I'm still following you, you know, and still gardening haphazardly. I love seeing your pics and knowing you are well.
ReplyDeleteHi MarthaChick! Thank you and it's good to hear from you. I might have to steal that excellent phrase "gardening haphazardly".
DeleteYou have reminded me that I used to have myrtles. I must find a new place for one or two. I'd love a warbler to visit my garden. Love the 'echo canyon' day lily.
ReplyDeleteThe myrtle foliage smells so good and it's a nice green background when I want to snip just a couple of flowers to look at close up. Wishing you warblers!
DeleteMay was good to your garden. I have a plant that is slow to return every year, a hardy begonia. It is just now showing it's leaves.
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa. June was hot and dry but the first nine days of July arrived with some real rain, hallelujah. I looked up the hardy begonia and it definitely sounds worth the wait!
DeleteAnne
What a pretty little warbler! I do hope your gift shrub from the birds is a Beautyberry; it's one of my favorites in the fall. I understand your frustrations with all that is going on in the world; I've spent a lot of time this year in garden therapy:)
ReplyDeleteIt was a beautyberry, Rose - but the shrub wasn't decorative for long... the birds strip the berries as soon as they ripen. They've probably planted another one somewhere!
DeleteWe had a decent enough May in Indiana but it is sure hot and dry now. I'm glad I decided to check your blog this evening! Nice to see a fairly recent post. I was sorry to have missed seeing you when I was in Austin in early May with the bloggers. I've been thinking about you, wondering what you are up to!
ReplyDeleteNot up to much! Once in awhile I post here or at Divas of the Dirt but that's about it for blogging.
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