Rewilding My Lot

I was away from the garden for ten days in September 2024. Here are some highlights of what happened in my absence.

First, there was zero rain and neither was the garden watered while I was gone. The plants here have been chosen to be drought-resistant, although there were a couple of things that looked droopy or crispy. One was the recently transplanted Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida), which still needs more time to establish properly. I believe it will be fine, though, and it certainly is in better shape than if it were still in a pot.

Another thing that looks drought-weary is the non-native builder-installed Bermudagrass turf in the front yard, which I have chosen to keep but which gets no special care from me. It’s brown but not dead, and it will green back up once we get rain. Meanwhile the meadow plants beside it look just fine, like this Spotted Beebalm aka Spotted Horsemint (Monarda punctata).

I suspected that the dwarf Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra) would bloom while I was away because there were buds. It certainly did. By the way, there’s a chrysalis on the left side of this photo — they are all over the garden, and I believe this to be a Bordered Patch.

The Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri) exceeded my expectations. There was a single cluster of blooms earlier this year, but I am surprised to see several more bud clusters forming now. There is also significant new leaf growth and I really think this tree has grown several inches in just a couple of weeks.

After my first sighting of Leavenworth’s Eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii) a few weeks ago, I now see two more plants and one is turning purple.

I suspected that the Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) would be under attack from Genista Broom Moth caterpillars while I was away and not doing my usual daily inspections. This was the case and I did pick off about 50 small caterpillars on my first day back, but the damage is not too great and I’m back on patrol.

In the milkweed area, a Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) that had bloomed earlier is now producing seed pods.

Nearby, one of the Zizotes Milkweed (Asclepias oenotheroides) that grew from seed this year is now beginning to produce flowers. Another has a good-sized Queen caterpillar visitor.

My single Maximilian Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani) finally has buds. This plant apparently self-seeds well, so I probably won’t need to do anything more to keep these plants in the garden. It had been months since I planted it, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get flowers.

The indoor nursery of tree seedlings did get water while I was away (thanks, Alan!) and they look very happy. The younger Mexican Buckeye (Ungnadia speciosa) in the rear of this photo have already outgrown the slower growing Texas Mountain Laurel in the foreground.