Texas Gardening: 'Knock Out' Roses - Prune Now?, 1 by htop

htop wrote:
I need to make some more raised beds in my backyard so that I don't have so many plants in containers also. I have very little dirt above the almost solid limestone and I have a huge Great Pyrenees dog that likes to trample things as he chases squirrels well as wee wee on the plants. He and my Parsons Jack Russell like to dig as well so using containers has been my only way to keep things alive and well. At least in has been a bit cooler here the past few days with it being only 100 or a little above.

We also have huge numbers of birds coming to eat and drink because the neighbors' yards offer nothing for them and nothing is growing in the field behind my house. More hummers are visiting than ever before as well as several types of hawks. I have set plastic garbage can Iids upside down on large pots and filled them with water to serve as extra bird bathes to accommodate all of the extra birds. I have been spraying water into the trees when I water and love to watch all the different types of birds that come for a quick shower. My lovebird, Ike, loves to watch the wild birds feed from the bird feeders that are right outside of my living room window. He is most fond of the cardinals for some reason. Maybe because they are more his size. When he is free in my bedroom (which doubles as an aviary now), he shows off for the birds that feed outside the window which is almost the whole length of the bedroom and goes almost to the floor. I throw birdseed on the ground outside of the window. When the wild birds are outside the window, he goes to all of his hanging toys that are in front of the window and does lots of quite amazing acrobatics for them.

Here Ike is showing off for the other birds by hanging by one foot from his shred toy.