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Southwestern Squash Vine Borer
This colorful visitor has been on my Mexican Olive tree for a few days; it’s a Southwestern Squash Vine Borer (a moth). If I were a vegetable gardener, this might be something of concern, since their caterpillars eat squash and pumpkin vines from the inside. As far as I can tell, I don’t have any… Continue reading
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Gulf Muhly Plants Are Flowering
There are a total of three Gulf Muhly (Muhlenbergia capillaris) plants here. One is in the front bed, planted by the builder (a rare good plant choice by the original landscaper), and the other two are in the back in the area that is designated for mid-height prairie grasses. Once the summer drought was over,… Continue reading
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Texas Master Naturalist Program
When I came to Seguin I was already aware of the Native Plant Society of Texas, and I quickly joined the local chapter (Guadalupe) so that I could learn from others more experienced than I about gardening in this area. A few weeks later I learned about the Texas Master Naturalist Program, of which I… Continue reading
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Mexican Plum
To round out my collection of four trees in the back yard I have planted a Mexican Plum (Prunus mexicana). It is an early blooming tree, and in fact the flowers appear before the leaves in the spring, so it is an important nectar source early in the year. And being deciduous, it’s a nice… Continue reading
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Science Is Happening Here
My education was in the biological/medical sciences, and even though I have long been out of the profession, that hasn’t taken away my interest and instincts. “Citizen science” or “community science” is important in a number of fields, and one of my earliest experiences of that was using the app iNaturalist. The first step for… Continue reading
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More Frogfruit Plugs In The Front Lawn
When I recently attempted to level the uneven front lawn with extra soil, I didn’t have enough soil to do anything with the front strip between the sidewalk and the street. I may do more leveling next year. This is the area I’m talking about, still growing back after the summer’s drought. The front lawn… Continue reading
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Settling The Garden For The Winter
One of my goals for this fall was to have every area here covered with plants, soil containing seeds, or mulch, so that there is a minimum area of bare soil that could be vulnerable to erosion (obviously I am hoping that my seeds will germinate!). Most of those activities have been achieved by now,… Continue reading
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Migrating Butterflies Fattening Up For Their Long Journeys
It was only recently when I learned that migrating butterflies need to increase their fat content in order to have enough fuel to journey south to their wintering sites in Mexico. As delicate as they appear, I hadn’t thought about them having fat at all. Monarch butterfly larvae will only eat Milkweed leaves, but the… Continue reading
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Red Yucca
In May 2023 I planted Red Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora), which is confusingly not a yucca, but rather a member of the Century-Plant family. I wanted a way to use some of the stones that are abundant in the ground here (a builder “gift”!), and so I made a rock pile with three soil hollows that… Continue reading
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Sow Thunder Turf In The Fall/Winter, Yes Or No?
I recently reported that there is one area of Thunder Turf native grasses that I want to reseed, but I am hindered at the moment because the builder next-door is over-watering the new turf there, and my garden floods on that side every morning. I hope that once the next-door house is occupied, the watering… 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 