Blog
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I Have Baby Bluebonnets!

I sowed three kinds of wildflower in the center of the front lawn area a couple of weeks ago, but then the day after that we had torrential rain. I was not confident that the seeds had stayed put, so I repeated the seeding a few days later. The day after that second seeding I… Continue reading
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More Caterpillars On The Texas Mountain Laurel

A couple of months ago I had an infestation of Genista Broom Moths on my Texas Mountain Laurel tree. Last week I noticed a new crop of hungry caterpillars munching on the tender growing parts of the same tree. I wrote about this more in my earlier post, but the bottom line in choosing whether… Continue reading
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Wildflowers In The Back Yard — The “Short” Areas

In my last post about sowing native wildflower seeds for taller plants in the rear part of the back yard, I wrote about the reasons for my strategy so I won’t repeat them here. Here I describe the shorter plants that are being sown in the two areas closer to the house. Some I have… Continue reading
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Wildflowers In The Back Yard — The “Tall” Area

Now that the original Bermudagrass turf in the back yard is gone (although I expect to be fighting remnants for a long time yet), better quality soil has been added, and pathways defined, I am ready for fall seeding of native flowers. There are a few plants that have been introduced from pots in the… Continue reading
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Building Pathways

I’ve plotted out pathways for the back garden, although nothing will be permanently installed, so things could be changed later. The first step was to lay down cardboard weighted down with stones to mark the routes. Then I had to pause this project when we got heavy rain that left the ground very wet for… Continue reading
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Rock Rose

Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) is another plant that I learned about at the Park West pollinator garden, and consequently decided that I would like to have here. It’s a small pollinator-friendly shrub with high drought tolerance. This plant went in the ground just after the new soil went down in the back yard, and soon… Continue reading
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Incy Wincy Spider
I spotted this cute critter outside my garage about a week ago. It’s a Western Spotted Orbweaver (Neoscona oaxacensis). It’s a determined soul. Since I found it, its web has been demolished on a daily basis by heavy rain or strong wind. And yet it remains. Sometimes I’ve seen it on a web (which is… Continue reading
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Second Attempt At Lawn Wildflower Seeding
A few days ago I leveled the front yard with extra soil and then dispersed wildflower seeds in the bare spots. The next day there was heavy rain that disturbed and/or washed away some of the soil, and did who knows what to the seeds. I’ve decided not to repeat the soil leveling this year.… Continue reading
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Tiny Grass Seedlings

One encouraging sign after the recent “monsoon” rain was to see hundreds of tiny new grass shoots from the native grass reseeding project 10 days previously. That tells me that these “Thunder Turf” seeds had a chance to germinate before the heavy rain came. I still only have about a quarter of the native grass… Continue reading
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Native Plant Sale Purchases
Twice a year, our local Native Plant Society of Texas chapter (Guadalupe) holds a plant sale in Seguin. The fall sale occurs during the annual Pecan Fest celebration, which was a few days ago. My fall planting plans in the back yard mostly involve getting as much seed to take as possible, because that’s the… Continue reading
About Me
Nature Lover.
Inquisitive Observer.
Student Gardener.
I invite you to join me on my journey to convert my sterile (from a nature point of view) new house lot to a healthy and diverse ecosystem, as I make discoveries, mistakes, and hopefully progress. I am not an expert or professional. The project started in February 2023 and the location is Seguin, Texas, USA.
