mealy blue sage
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A Mid November Look Around The Garden

It is already mid November, but even for central Texas we still have unusually high temperatures (daytime 80s F). Despite the warmth, the garden is clearly making seasonal changes so I thought it might be interesting to take a look around. I keep the area in front of the house fairly neat. For instance, I Continue reading
american beautyberry, beach sunflower, blackfoot daisy, bluebonnet, common sunflower, cowpen daisy, fall, flame acanthus, food, frogfruit, frostweed, habitat, indiangrass, leaf litter, meadow, mealy blue sage, mexican mint marigold, mexican plum, native grasses, rock rose, season, shelter, shrubby boneset, texas mountain laurel, white mistflower, yellow yucca -
Increasing Diversity In The Wildflower Meadow

The wildflower meadow in the front of the house has completed two seasons of growth. Bluebonnet (Lupinus texensis) and Firewheel aka Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella) have done very well, with some spectacular displays in the spring. A few other wildflowers have grown too, but even though this is a small and limited area, I would Continue reading
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Fall Mowing Of The Wildflower Meadow

October is a good time to put the wildflower meadow in front of the house to bed for the winter. It’s a seasonal project, so to keep the area tidy this is when it gets a good trim. The process for 2025 was largely the same as I did in October 2024. The plants still Continue reading
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Adding Mealy Blue Sage To The Meadow

There are a lot of Mealy Blue Sage (Salvia farinacea) plants in the back garden. In the summer of 2024 they grew from seed that I had dispersed the previous fall. These are perennial plants that bloom from spring to fall and are particularly popular with large bees. Here’s a brief video of some bee Continue reading
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When A Photographer Visits The Garden

The only camera I have is the one in my phone. For the convenient little device that it is, the quality of the photographs that I can get is pretty good. However, when my friend Ken Harvey visited the garden with his proper camera, the images he was able to capture were so much better Continue reading
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New Blooms In The Back Garden

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 Continue reading
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More Plants Waking Up For Spring

More new growth in the garden! Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora). This is one of the plants that started to make new growth in February only to have those tender shoots freeze back a couple of weeks later. This time it’s taking off for real, although it looks like there might not be any blooms Continue reading
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Starting The Spring Clean Up

A few weeks ago, I trimmed back dead parts of the pollinator garden that is in front of the house. From a nature (habitat) point of view I should have left it longer before tidying up, but I did that particular project to keep the front of the house “neat” for the neighborhood. The larger Continue reading
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Sleeping Bees

This garden attracts a lot of bees of different types and sizes. Most of our native bees in Texas are solitary and one of the most delightful things to see in the early morning are bees that are still sleeping on plants. Here are a couple of Eastern Carpenter Bees (Xylocopa virginica) that I saw 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.

