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Interesting Things Happening On An American Beautyberry
There is a young American Beautyberry shrub near the back door, so I see it every time I go outside. A few days ago I noticed a Bordered Patch caterpillar just curled up on a leaf, and the next day there was a chrysalis in that location. That’s the lighter object in the above photo.… Continue reading
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How Are The Remaining Two Sisters Doing?
Soon after the Three Sisters corn harvest, the corn plants were pretty much dead. A big takeaway from this experiment for me is that vegetable gardening takes more water than does native plant gardening, and if I am to do this again next year, I will need to rethink my watering strategy. I still have… Continue reading
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I Disturb This Grasshopper Every Morning
I have very few plants in pots, but there is one near the front door, a Mexican Mint Marigold (Tagetes lucida). This is a plant that I brought from Houston last year, and a few months ago I split it into two portions — one remained in its original pot and the other was planted… Continue reading
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Shredding Before A Storm
This week a tropical storm was forecast to hit Texas and so I hustled to finish the current shredding task. I had Firewheel and Sunflower stalks that were already cut and drying out, and I didn’t want to get them wet again so out came the trusty shredder. This time I put the resulting mulch… Continue reading
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Wolf Spiders, And How To Find Them In The Dark
Rabid Wolf Spiders (Rabidosa rabida) are common here. Their name sounds alarming, but spiders cannot carry rabies and therefore cannot transmit it. The “rabid” part of their name is thought to derive from its rapid, erratic movement. Here are two of them that I found in my Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora). Rabid Wolf Spiders don’t build… Continue reading
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Texas Star, And A Petal Mystery
When I recently tidied up my native wildflower meadow, I found this tiny volunteer Texas Star aka Meadow Pink (Sabatia campestris). It’s an annual that readily self-seeds so hopefully I’ll see more next year. Initially I struggled with the ID because although this plant when I first saw it (photo below) looked in almost every… Continue reading
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Paying It Forward In The Wildflower Meadow
Once the majority of Bluebonnets and Firewheels had finished blooming in my native wildflower meadow, they were cut down to the ground and the stems moved to the back garden to dry. A few days later it was shredding time. By then I had accumulated quite a lot of material, due to cutting down most… Continue reading
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Big Clean Up In The Back Yard
This year I filled almost all unused space in the back yard with annual wildflowers, some seeded by me and some volunteers. This “green mulch” approach is intended to capture water, improve soil health, and support wildlife visitors. Since these plants are not permanent fixtures, I am free to remove any of them to make… Continue reading
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June Pruning Advice For Native Plants
Drake White, Owner and Founder at The Nectar Bar, is very knowledgeable about Central Texas native plants. She recently posted with recommendations for June pruning. This is what she said, and I’ll follow her list with notes about my own plants, almost all of which are in my pollinator garden near the front porch. (Some… Continue reading
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Lady Beetles After Rain
I often walk around my garden just to see if there’s anything interesting going on. One of my favorite times to do that is just after a rainfall — the cooler air is refreshing and the plants look particularly perky. The photo above is of a Lady Beetle on an American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) and… 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.
Rewilding My Lot 