texas mountain laurel
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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 -
Green Lynx Spider With Egg Sac
I regularly check my Texas Mountain Laurel tree for Genista Broom Moth caterpillars, which can eat a lot of tender new foliage if they get out of control. On this particular morning I did see a couple of caterpillars, which were plucked off and flung away. The Texas Mountain Laurel tree is a common resting Continue reading
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My First Four Trees Are Now Taller Than I Am
In front of the house there are two Live Oak trees that the builder planted. Behind the house there are four trees that I planted early in my time here (2-3 years ago), with the intent that they would become major features in the garden: Desert Willow, Texas Mountain Laurel, Mexican Olive, and Mexican Plum. Continue reading
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A Two-Week July Vacation
Vacations are fun, and what is also fun is seeing what the garden did during my time away (without it being watered!). I was recently gone for two weeks in July 2025 and this is what caught my eye when I got back. Sunflowers had grown A LOT. I will need to cut some of Continue reading
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Returning To The Garden After Nine Days Away
I was recently away from home for nine days, right after a week when we had over six inches of rain. I expected to see changes when I got back of course, but I didn’t know exactly what I’d find. Here are some highlights. Some plants had grown a lot. Sunflowers were about a foot 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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Tree Growth Report, January 2025
It is now an annual tradition (i.e., this is the second year!) that I take note of how my trees and shrubs are doing. Like children, when you see them every day, sometimes you don’t appreciate how much they’re growing. This post addresses trees. There will a separate one to describe the shrubs that I Continue reading
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Increasing The Size Of Tree Circles
I generally try to give a tree mulched clear ground around its trunk up to at least its drip line, i.e., the edge of its canopy. This is most important when the tree is in a turf environment so that its roots don’t have to compete with water-hungry grass. Back in August 2023, I expanded Continue reading
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Moving Texas Mountain Laurel To Bigger Pots
By way of experiment, I was able to germinate several Texas Mountain Laurel (Sophora secundiflora) seeds a few weeks ago [post]. Until now, the seedlings have been in 4-inch pots indoors in our guest room. I was holding off moving them into bigger pots until it was cool enough outside to move them into 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.
Rewilding My Lot 