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Activity In The Front “Lawn” Frogfruit
There is Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) in the front lawn area, outside of the native flower meadow area. In that location, it’s mixed with Bermudagrass and lies close to the ground. There are a lot of blooms at the moment (they are short enough to escape the mower), and the quantity and diversity of insect visitors… Continue reading
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Desert Willow Has A Seed Pod
Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) is the feature tree of the back yard. It is, and will probably always be, the largest tree behind the house (although it is currently only about 8ft tall, so still a baby!). It was also the first tree to establish, in terms of blooming and overall growth. Another recent milestone… Continue reading
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The First Butterflyweed Flowers
In April 2024 I was lucky to snag three small Butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa) plants at a Home Depot giveaway. I planted them in a small area of the garden that I have designated for native milkweeds. In that area I also have Antelope Horns (Asclepias asperula) and Zizotes (Asclepias oenotheroides) milkweed plants. Two of the… Continue reading
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Shredded Cardboard As Compost Browns
When I started making compost here last year, at first it didn’t work. Eventually I got one successful batch by using an added compost starter and keeping it more wet than I had been doing. That batch of compost was certainly usable (I put it around my trees), but it was rather wet and sticky.… Continue reading
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Trying Not To Repeat Last Year’s Spurge Mistake
Last year I had a lot of Spotted Spurge weeds. I made the mistake of letting them seed before I eventually pulled them out, and so I expected that there would be a lot this year as well. Spotted Spurge is indeed here in abundance and I will try to be more diligent about removing… Continue reading
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Mexican Olive Recovery From New Growing Points
I planted a Mexican Olive (Cordia boissieri) tree last year and it looked healthy until a major freeze in January 2024, when I thought I might have lost it. I had to wait several weeks, but the tree did eventually recover. All the previous growing points of the tree were killed in the freeze, and… Continue reading
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Relocating Caterpillars
Since I last reported finding a Queen caterpillar in my milkweed patch, of course I visited often to see how it (and the plant it was eating) was doing. Over the course of the next two days I realized that there were actually three other Queen caterpillars moving among the milkweed plants. Each was about… Continue reading
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Observations At The Wood Pile
One of the first things I did when starting the garden last year was obtain a pile of logs from a dead tree that was cut down and assemble them into a wood pile. I planted a Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) in one of the internal pockets of the pile, and then pretty much left the… Continue reading
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Rock Rose Hidden But Doing Well
Last year I got a few trees and smaller perennials started, and then filled in the gaps with annuals from seed. One of the perennials was Rock Rose (Pavonia lasiopetala), which is growing well although rather obscured by everything else going on around it. It’s a pretty little shrub with high drought tolerance. Continue reading
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Hopeful For My (Almost) Leafless Red Buckeye
I planted a tiny Red Buckeye (Aesculus pavia) tree in April this year (see post). Here’s a photo from when it was new, just 13 inches tall: In early July I noticed that leaves were turning yellow and falling, so naturally I was concerned. Was it getting enough or too much water? Was it ailing?… 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.
