Well, the gator had to go. He ate 10 large Muscovy ducks in one night. The first night he ate all the turtles in the pond, about 15. The good he did was to eliminate most of the Raccoons in the area, but he was laying in wait, in the ambush position for anything to go on the pond edge. Our grandsons play in that area sometimes, and a couple of dogs disappeared. He would have killed any of us once he had declared this to be his pond.
I called the local game people and they said that if it was over 6 feet long, to shoot it. If it looked to be over 12 feet long call them back. Of course, You can not tell by just looking at one eyeball how big the rest of him is.
Small print: I did the deed. She helped me get it out of the pond, and posed for the picture. All the women in the neighborhood think she did it by herself because of another neighbor told them so in jest. Now they all believe. When we go to a local eatery, I see people pointing and whispering. Kind of funny what a rumor, complete with a picture, can do.
Gardening with Texas Native plants & Wildflowers. Part 4
Trois, that sheds some light on the matter, buy you still didn't say what you did with it.
Betty says to leave the rumor be!
Josephine, I met with the contractor yesterday. Because I have a very difficult schedule next week, we're waiting until the week after Memorial Day to do the work. It should be completed within about three days that week. Thanks for asking.
Thanks also for the encouragement. I do have to be reminded from time to time that I am still in a wooded area.The trees on the outside of my fence really do make a difference in when and where the sun shines. When I had the pines removed it turned out to be a good thing that I couldn't afford to do anything else for almost a year. I was able to observe the sun patterns over the year to figure out which beds would get full sun, afternoon shade, etc.
We have the skull and belly skin. We gave the meat about 60 pounds of the tail, to some people that like to eat it. We don't. The buzzards ate the rest.
We gave up on the rumor and just let it live on as a ledend.
This message was edited May 22, 2005 9:40 AM
trois, that is quite a story. Your grandsons are definitely safer with the alligator out of the way.
Konkreteblond, elderberries can get quite large — between 8 and 12 feet tall. When we lived near Cincinnati, I had two bushes and each got at least 8 feet tall. Elderberries are only partly self-fruitful. To get the maximum number of elderberries, you should have at least two varieties. The canes produced the first year may produce a terminal cluster, but the canes' most productive period occurs the second year when they send out laterals. Any cane older than three years should be cut out to encourage the production of new canes.
You can grow plants nearby without any problems. I knew nothing about elderberries when I planted my first ones and planted them too close to my rose bushes. I had no idea they got so big, but with a regular fertilizer schedule, they all grew well together.
Veronica
I forgot to add that elderberries make an excellent jelly when combined with another fruit. I found a recipe that added staghorn sumac berry juice to the elderberries. The end result was a sweet-tart tasty jelly.
These plants are not all blooming now. This is intended to show the ones that live on our place.
We have increased the numbers drastically by selective mowing, especially with the August blooming Purple Gerardia (agalinis purpurea)
The Yellow Puffs, (Neptunia Lutea) are blooming now, and for the next few months.
I can understand why you would want to increase that one. Nice shot!
The relatively rare Salt Marsh MG, (Ipomoea sagittata) are also late bloomers, late July through August. These have the largest flowers of any MG I have seen, about 4 inches across. They also have the smallest leaves.
Numerous in our ponds, the Delta Arrowhead.
Thanks, John. I now have several thousand of these as young plants, scattered all over.
Bet it's beautiful.
sidney
Trois, the Gerardia is so beautiful and delicate, I have seen them before in pink, but not in purple.
I love the the Marsh Morning glory, I saw some of these on Galveston Iland, I wish we could grow them here, although I have never tried, didn't have the seed.
Another problem for me is space, only a quarter acre, but I do the best I can.
I observed many thousands of the young this morning. I instructed my son and DIL about them, hopefully preventing mowing. The first year we had a couple of plants. Last year where I didn't mow, several hundred. The colors vary from plant to plant, and as they age.
Those are pretty.
Thanks. I am hoping for a real bumper crop this year.
Trois,
You'll have to post any new photos of Gerardia. They are lovely. We went to Matagorda Island last year and saw the Goat-foot Morning Glory, Ipomoea pes-caprae. Maybe it was my imagination, but the leaves and flowers seemed larger than those described in Wildflowers of Texas.
In still have a few old pics left from last year that can tide me over till August.
Thanks.
Here is a picture of Partridge Pea, ( Cassia fasciculata ) This is a lovely native legume.
It is an annual that produces very pretty flowers and lots of seed for game and song birds.
The adult sulfur butterfly lays its eggs on the leaves, and the larvae use it as a food source.
The seedpods burst open when ripe and disperse the seeds.
A close up of Partridge Pea.
This message was edited May 23, 2005 2:11 PM
A lovely patch of Mexican Hats on the wildflower slope.
And a patch of Coneflwers.
I have been carefully examining the "sensitive" plants. We have 4 distinct types here. 2 kinds of pinks, one with stickery stems and one without, just soft things. We have the yellow puffs, and this morning I found a patch of undistinguished ones with buff colored flowers, and they are less sensitave. I will post more soon.
This is a view of our backyard looking toward the vegetable garden.
There is Penstemon tenuis blooming, Frostweed, Ironweed, Turk's cap, Phlox carolina,
Flame Anisacanthus, Tall Goldenrod, Four O'clocks, and Texas Star hibiscus.
Elephant garlic in the vegetable garden, with some white Ginger.
This is the opposite corner, with Cherry Laurel, Texas Mountain Laurel, Mexican Buckeye,
Turk's cap, Frostweed, Lantana, Texas Star, and my gigantic Elderberry which is about 35 feet tall. The compost area which measures about 10 x 15 feet is behind the shrubs, and that Elderberry is feeding off of it, that is why it is so large, normally the dont get taller then 15 feet. The top of the Elderberry can not be seen in the picture.
We will soon have many of these in the wetter areas.
West Texas Mist.
Another.
And one more.
How does it fare in less than wet conditions I wonder? I understand it also attracts butterflies.
It does indeed attract many Butterflies. It grows wild every where its too wet to mow, except in the water. I will leave a small amount of dry area to see if any comes up there.
Ohhhh ohhhh oohhhh, That is my blue mistflower! eupatorium something.... I LOVE that stuff, although it takes over if not watched. I can say that it grows in my really crappy soil, no water, neglected!
The monarchs LOVE it! I have it in just s spots, but they are growing everywhere that there is bare dirt, and actually got aggressive with it and cut it back to the ground in february/march. hasn't phased it.... it will be blooming in no time! I can't kill the stuff!
melanie
:-)
I'll put some in your package when I send the sedum! ; )
WOW!
Mine did not come back. :( I bought it at the Heard Sale last year and it thrived all summer, but never came back this spring. I can say I rarely ever gave it any extra water and it was happy, but I guess not happy enough.
It is still early. It may not return to the exact same place.
How interesting! we all have different experiences. I also bought this plant some time ago but it didn't do anything, died shortly after planting, may be it was sick when I got it.
I probably should try it again.
We had another interesting experience. We had a fig tree that was not doing well due to other large plants. It moved itself over about 4 feet during the winter leaving it's stake behind. It has several figs already. No trace of the old plant.. It's enough to creep you out.