The past 2-3 weeks have seen an explosion of growth, color, and activity in the back garden. Here are some highlights.
Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella). For some reason the Firewheels behind the house are much more vigorous and colorful than the ones in front of the house. They are the red and yellow flowers in the foreground here.
Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea). There are a lot of these plants, grown from seed that I sowed in fall 2023. They surprised me by growing in later than I expected and this is their first spring for them to be mixed in with the Firewheels — I like the contrast of colors. They are the blue plants in the foreground here.
Lyreleaf Sage (Salvia lyrata). The blooms on these don’t last very long, and the bigger plants here have already gone to seed. However, I notice that some of the little transplants near the pond are going to bloom this year, which I wasn’t expecting since they had so recently been transplanted.
Prairie Verbena (Verbena bipinnatifida). I planted three of these near the pond in November. Only one was strong enough to survive the winter freezes that occurred just a few weeks later, and it’s doing very well. It is already many times its original size.
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis). The first blooms on this tree are now here, which makes the hummingbirds happy. In this photo there is also an Eastern Leaf-Footed Bug (Leptoglossus phyllopus).
Standing Cypress (Ipomopsis rubra). Some of these are already blooming and I can see a lot more new bloom spikes growing (the paler green in the photo below). The original intent with this area was to have three different annual or biennial plants, but the Standing Cypress were the only ones of the three to appear. So for now they pretty much get this area to themselves.
Common Sunflower (Helianthus annuus) and Beach Sunflower (Helianthus debilis). Sunflowers have been cheerful volunteers in this garden from the very beginning. This year I am being more selective in where I allow them to grow, but behind the pond and near the wood pile are two of those places.
Tall Poppymallow aka Annual Winecup (Callirhoe leiocarpa). This is a volunteer that I am seeing for the first time this year, and I have a few of them scattered around. I love the intense deep pink color, and here it’s a bold contrast with its Firewheel and Mealy Blue Sage neighbors.
And these are some things that are not currently blooming but looking very happy nevertheless…
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana). This was one of the first things I planted in spring 2023, and then it almost didn’t make it through its first summer with the intense heat and drought that we had (plus my inexperience). It’s looking much stronger now.
Turk’s Cap (Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii). This was only planted last fall and then it froze back over the winter. It’s growing back well.
Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana). This tree produces blooms early in the year, and then proceeds to grow new leaves and to extend its branches. In this photo you might be able to see the end of the “old wood” near my fingers and then a few more inches of new wood (the narrower, redder stem) that has grown very quickly in the past few weeks.
Texas Mountain Laurel (Dermatophyllum secundiflorum). This tree has grown a lot in the past year. It didn’t bloom this spring, but it has created a lot of flower spikes that are presumably the start of next year’s blooms (unless eaten by caterpillars, which I will have to watch for). I don’t mind it not blooming this year — it’s a young tree and I’d rather it spend its energy on growing strong roots and branches.
Rewilding My Lot 
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