Second a shot of my Brown-eyed Susans. Got a 3flower shot with a single, double and a triple flower.
Gardening with Texas Native plants & Wildflowers. Part 6
Last is my love, my passion vine with 3 blooms and many buds.
Very nice shots, kip!
I love the Desert Willow. I have two young ones that bloomed for a short time, and now are growing instead.
I liked the first picture od your passion flower better, in other words, closeups.
Good work. I have just started taking a few with a flash. They are getting better all the time. I mean the cameras and flashes together no longer wash out everything.
trois
Hello James, thank you for posting those pictures. I always admire anyone who can take a picture of a hummingbird, I have not been able to get one yet, either they move too fast, or my camera is too slow. I guess I need to practice. Keep up the good work.
Kipper2, your pictures are lovely, I love passion flowers too, but this year, I only have a very puny one, it looks like the crossvine overpowered the passion vine. I am trying to get a new one going now, may be it will bloom before frost.
This morning I was called on to take my two grandsons to their swimming practice. On the return trip I noticed what looked to be Azalias blooming in the ditch. I knew the season was over so I stopped for a closer look and discovered a large patch of blooming Salt Marsh Morning Glories. I counted over a hundred open blooms. I went back home and returned with my camera, and, got a few pictures. These are growing in a place that will be mowed soon. I am afraid that if I call attention someone will apply roundup, as so many people hate wildflowers. At least they can come back from the roots this way. I will return in the morning and pay more attention to the distinctive leaves, which I ignored this morning.
A second picture.
And a third. This one shows a few of the distinctive leaves in the lower left corner.
Those photos of the Salt Marsh Morningglories are lovely. Too bad they are going to be mowed.
I agree with the rest of you regarding that Houston house. My first thought was that I could understand why the neighbors are upset. I think the woman could have done a better job of planning her garden. Perhaps putting some of the larger ones in her backyard which is too bad because it could discourage someone from trying a native garden.
Jusrt to play Devil's advocate, does she own the place or not? I agree it is a bit unsightly, and good manners would likely have prevented any problems, but with property rights at issue lately, I wonder.
From the pictures it looks as though the kerb side easment is very long, and if its a corner lot, does that not create a traffic hazard? It would in the UK and that would justify the local authority cutting it down.
Seems to me if you are going to have that kind of yard, you have to work with your neighbors very closely to keep things happy...people get nervous about thing that are "different". I suspect if she had gone about it differently and worked a little harder at having a less "wild" look she could have made it work...People love the idea of nature and wildlife, and probably would have likeed being a part of it.
It seems to me that both sides have really blown it. Chances are that I would dig my feet in too if my neighbors started telling me I must do this or that. It would be great if a few native plant enthusiast would pitch in to help her out with some planning and maybe some labor. Jmo. :-)
John, It seems to me too, that the place not only looks wild, but also is in need of repair and maintenance. May be she thought that if she let it go wild, maintenance would not be necessary, but that is not true at all, maintenance is a big part of any type of landscape, we know that very well.
May be she is not phisically able to keep up with it, since it appears that she is by herself. If we lived closer we might be able to help her, bur we have to keep up with our own place, which is no small task.
She needs to get help, to make her front yard more acceptable, or adjust to the circumstances, we can't allways have things the way we want them.
I know that if I did't have Frank, I could not keep up with this place by myself, I just dont't have the muscle power and the stamina to do it all.
Josephine.
You aren't kidding! There is a lot of maintenance and work that is required for any size beds, much less an entire lot. It could get unruly if you aren't able to prune and clean up regularly. Mulching itself requires heavy lifting and either a wheelbarrow or muscles. Hopefully she will not be stubborn and just appear odd. If she complies and fixes it up she could get the entire neighborhood interested, rather than turning them off to nature at all.
I think I understand why some folks in the city pour green concrete in the front. :-)
John, green concrete is a preposterous idea, but it sure would cut down on the maintenance. :-)
Trois, those morning glories sure are beautiful, such a shame that they will be cut down.
Thank you for letting us enjoy them.
Josephine.
I know it is but, if maintenance is the point..........
This morning I returned to the Salt Marsh Morning Glory patch and took a few more pictures.
The property owner came out to see what I was doing, so I explained the situation to him. He was very interested and said to come back anytime, dig some up to transplant and that he would see to it that it is not mowed. He is a very nice man, and also interested in what I was doing. I told him DG's address so he could look at his plants on the web. Sometimes it pays to talk to people.
That's great, Trois. Hope they transplant for you.
Now that I know where they are, I will wait for cooler weather. There must be at least 200 to 300 plants in this strip.
They are winter hardy here so I could have a little luch and get some going near the house.
I guided TXMel through a very hot walk to see just one. They drove right past this patch to get here, but we didn't know.
trois
TexMel came to visit you? How wonderful!
It was on their way to Galveston for a ship ride to the tropics of Mexico. We enjoyed their brief, but hot visit. It had rained a tiny amount about an hour before they arrived and was a steam bath.
trois
At least you got rain. lol
Not enough to make the clay tacky.
Here is a rather unusual plant, a white Turk's Cap ( Malvaviscus drummondii )
I found this plant at Redentas two years ago and it blooms very little, but the blooms sure are neat.
And a close up.
Are Turks Cap cuttings easy or hard to root? I have one plant (red) that I should propagate.
Turk's Cap cuttings are not easy to root, but not very hard either, I am experimenting with different ways, but the easiest is the seedlings, I pot those up and when they are decent size I put them where I want them.
Have you had seedlings from yours yet? When the plant is two or three years old it will start dropping seeds and seedlings will come up close to the plant.
You can pull those up and propagate to your heart's content.
I have some potted now, of the red ones, the white does not make seed.
If you come to the plant swap, I will save some for you.
Josephine.
This my second year with the plant. It had flowers last year but, no seedlings this year. It died back to the ground last winter and is less than a foot tall so far this year. No flowers yet. Since its a native I have not fertilized it. Maybe I should? I really love this plant because of its form, foilage and flowers!
How far from the mother plant are the seedlings? Will they come up through mulch?
John
Yes, if the mulch is not too thick. The fruits look like little apples and they mature and turn red in the fall. The seedlings come up where the fruits fall, which would be close to the plant.
I love Turk,s Cap too, and so do the hummingbirds. I think your plant is probably too young, give it another year.
Fertilizing with compost or manure is fine, sometimes a little help is good. I allways give mine compost in the spring.
Josephine.
I will look for the fruits this year. Had maybe 1/2 dozen flowers last year but, didn't see any fruits. :-( I will spread some steer manure around it manana. Compost is still maturing. Thanks!
Hello Everyone, a continuation of this thread, part 7, has benn started.
To go to the new thread click on this link
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/527362/
Let us continue having fun and learning.
Sincerely, Josephine.