Oh, Melanie I am sorry, with all the excitement I forgot to congratulate you on the survival of you pet Lizard, I am glad it was a good day for you too.
Josephine.
Gardening with Texas Native Plants & Wildflowers, part 14.
Josephine - what a great find!! Congrats - I hear once you have one of these you soon will use nothing else for cuttings.
Thank You Mitch, I have to learn how to use it, and it didn't come with the instructions, somebody lost them in the changing of owners. We shall see.
Josephine.
Josephine - That is great... you may be able to find instructions on the internet. I always look there first then ebay for instruction books/information.
Linda - I want some of those seeds please...
The winter weather got my large butterfly bush in front. It has been green for three years until this ice storm. Now it is all black :(... I'm pretty sure it will come back since they grow and come back up north all the time... It's just sad to see it all black.
I haven't had time to check out everything else but I know I probably lost stuff this year that I haven't before. Just have to wait and see.
lol, thank you, Josephine. I have to admit that I get attached to my little critters who make homes around my house and tend to stay. If they do end up staying, then it means that I'm helping to create wee homes for them as well, and that makes me smile. :)
Melanie
That's what you call a wildlife habitat, Melanie! I like my lizards also. Some of them get pretty big around here.
Linda I received the seeds today!!! Thank you so much, you are an angel!!! As a matter of fact there are so many angels here at DG that it is a wonder we don't fly to those Roundups and save a lot of money!!
Just being a little funny, but seriously, what would I do without my wonderful gardening friends?
Love;
Josephine.
I got mine too! Thanks so much! Just holler if you ever hear me mention something you'd like.
got mine last night (couldn't remember what thread to thank you on... was fixing to just d-mail you)... I read entirely too many threads.
thanks so much.. can't wait to see them grow
Love how that all works Josephine!!
:-S
No problem, you all! Everybody that wants it should be growing that clematis. It's neat! Maybe next time I'll get some C. texensis seeds. We just snagged a truckful of mulch from a company that was working in the neighborhood cutting limbs down and mulching them. The truck was completely full, so they jumped at the chance. Cool! Said they'd be back in a couple of weeks if we need more. Hehe! Yeah, we always need some for future use. Won't compare to that Helotes mulch mountain (that's still burning...), of course!
You are right Linda, you can never have too much mulch. One time we bought a truck load from some guys that were trimming down the street, they dumped on our driveway, and we had to wheelbarrow it to the back yard.
We put it in our large compost bin, and when we harvested the compost we had 750 pounds after sifting.
What a gift from mother nature that was! Here is a picture of me harvesting it.
And one with part of the harvest.
lol Linda...don't mention that mulch pile! *cough cough* :p Tis horrible out here.
Wonderful photos, Josephine.. :)
Melanie
Thank you Melanie, I love compost, it is the only food I give my plants.
I can get a truck load of mulch here for 5.00. We ended up getting 9 truck loads last year just to bearly cover most of my beds... I'm figuring at least 10 loads this year also... But 50.00 is GREAT for the amount.
This isn't as well-shredded as the Boerne mulch, but it was right here and FREE and it wasn't just a pickup truck full. Hadn't thought of composting...it's a bit rough-shredded. Melanie, I'm glad they're going after Zumwalt now. I hold him and the state totally responsible. We need laws passed, so this won't happen again. The story I read says that until just a few years ago such sites didn't even have to be registered. And there's NO limit on how many square yards of mulch can be kept there. It's been there since 1981, getting bigger every year. The only recycled mulch ever taken out of there was put on Zumwalt's personal property. That's so sad, when he could have sold it or given it away. I hope when it's over, they prohibit him from ever using the site for mulch dumping again.
I'm sure they will definitely prohibit any such operation of that site again, Linda...heaven forbid if they don't! I live at 1560 and Braun...too close even there! Now, what to do with this awful beef jerky aroma in my car and house, lol. :p
Josephine, I'm really looking into getting one of those rubbermaid style compost containers...depending on the price, tho my yard is real small. I remember that you had built one out of cinderblocks? Or did I just imagine that? Some homemade and cheap alternatives would be great. :)
Melanie
Yes, mine is made of cinder blocks, and the neat thing about it is that it is totally flexible and you can make it lower or higher to suit your needs. Our compost area is about 10x15 and it is divided into three bins, one large for holding mulch, and two smaller ones for our compost piles in progress.
It works great, and you can just start with one and build another if necessary .
With the blocks at about a dollar a piece, it is very economical, and it looks neat.
My mulch pile has grown (3 big loads) and threatens to take over our upper driveway. Yea! Now I just need to spread some everywhere it needs to be. But that'll have to wait. Had my left heel injection yesterday for the heel spur, so I'll have to lay low a couple of days, doctor says. I miss my blooms! Even some nurseries have trouble nowadays coming up with blooming plants. Some new landscapes in town are covered with weeds, however, from all the rain. And my whole place has not one bloom, I think! Would even welcome a dandelion. Here's some Barbara's Buttons pic to make it until something blooms again.
I know what you mean Linda, it is so dreary out there in my yard it is really pitiful.
The Barbara's Buttons sure are pretty, I hopr the plant you gave makes it, through this cold.
Just to illustrate: Summer
And Winter Now.
A lighted plant stand. How wonderful! I too feel you deserve it!
Renatelynne, they come back for me in zone 5, so I think your bfly. bush will make it!
Josephine, you're compost is as beautiful as you!
I made a small cinderblock square for just winter scraps and it's half full already! We've really hit the veggies hard!
Barbara's Buttons are a very pretty pink!
DH is building me a lighted plant stand in April. I'm so excited!
Oh Wow! You are getting one too! That is just great, so many wonderful things to do and explore.
Makes me feel sad for people who have no interest in the world of gardening, makes you wonder what they think about, and how they spend their time, doesn't it?
Just kidding of course.
I only have two southern exposure windows I can use for seedlings. Less than ideal. I've always started tomatoes and peppers in the house. I'm looking forward to learning how to start flowers. The catalogues have gotten outrageous in pricing and shipping.
My Grandma used to send a soup can full of pepper seedlings home with me, and you know, they grew fine after being separated. She had one tiny window sill. Now that's a green thumb!
Laugh, I can't imagine not wanting to be outdoors. I love to mow! (By hand.) It's so relaxing to be alone with your thoughts, work out grieviences, or just say prayers for people.
billyporter, the reddish-pink blooms are standing winecups (also one of my favorites). The Barbara's Buttons are the white blooms. I'd forgotten things are pretty mixed-up in that pic. Right now, my lighted plantstand is just a tall shelf stand we bought with added fluorescent light fixtures I attached the best I could. I'm trying to think of a way that the light fixtures can be raised and lowered as needed.
Linda, my mistake, I got confused with which thread I was looking at. You know how it goes when you're going up and down trying to comment on everything.
Chains and little hooks should be easy to find. Shop lights usually come with them. I see Frostweed has a wheel to wind hers up and down.
Those Winecups are so pretty, Linda. :) They are one of my favorites as well....They always make me smile when I see their magenta faces in the Spring. :) (Did Sheila tell you that we spoke at my Goodwill store a few days ago?) It is always nice to see her come in and shop awhile) :) Do you remember Sheila at the San Antonio swap, Josephine? She was the lovely woman who wore rosemary in her hat. :)
Melanie
Yes I do remember her, she is so nice, and she loves her herbs, I still have the plant she gave me, I am hoping it will take off in the Spring.
Good to hear from you Melanie.
And you as well... :)
Melanie
Melanie, yes, she DID mention it to me. She enjoyed talking to you. Hopefully she'll make it to the RU in CS this spring. Just about her whole life revolves around gardening and plants, which come to think of it is how I came to meet her. Love the sunshine and warm temps today! Tomorrow maybe I'll be ready to really get out and do some work outside. Today I just put some potted plants where they could get the sun and watered them. And I'm starting some more seeds. That is probably more than I should do today. I really haven't been feeling well, darn it.
Don't recall if Sedum is native or not but mine bloomed out sometime in the past 48 hours.
but I KNOW that the Canyon Daisy in the background IS !!
Duh, Kip
A closer view
And a bad shot, now too dark to get a good focus, of my aloe bloom stalk.
Got 2 smaller ones.
YEA !!!! Somethings blooming around here other than my Indian Blanket.
Kip, You are so lucky to have things blooming at this time! my garden looks so dreary and dead, I can't wait for spring, I guess the temperatures are a lot milder down in Houston.
The Copper Canyon Daisy, Tagetes lemonii, is native but not to Texas, it is native to Arizona, I didn't know that either many people are under the impression that it is native to Texas because it is so popular.
I did some looking around and that is how I found out, here is the link, you have to scroll down on the page to find the state; http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Tagetes+lemmonii&mode=sciname&submit.x=12&submit.y=7
Some Sedums are native to Texas, but without the name I can't tell you if yours is, but it sure is pretty.
Thank you for posting, you are a sweetheart.
Josephine.
Well Josephine, I'm a native Texan.......I planted it in native Texas soil...........it's growing in my native Texas yard.......I'll just call it Texan...... ;o) he he
Kip, not everything we grow has to be Texas native, God created so many beautiful and wonderful plants, and they are all worthy of our admiration.
I hope I didn't offend you by clarifying it. if I did, I apologize.
Josephine.
Josephine, Ir's a joke.........he he.....;o)~ Most of the things I have are either native or close to / including xeriscape excluding some herbs and fun1s. I just like the roughness of these plants.
No need to apologize for furthering knowledge.
luv ya
Thank you Kip, you are a sweetheart.
All I've got blooming are a few pansies I bought and am keeping in pots for now. I'm in serious bloom withdrawal myself. Can't wait until the wildflowers start blooming around here! Anemonies, come on, babies! Bitterweed, please, it's February! Agarita? Bluebonnets?! My Mexican Milkweeds got zapped bad, don't know how many will survive. Last winter I kept things blooming for the butterflies. But last week I saw a Red Admiral and one small sulfur! Got all excited because they were the first I've seen since the ice storm. Then I remembered...they wouldn't stay too long because I only have a few pansies blooming. Well, at least it might be a good year for the people who raise peaches in the Hill Country, as long as there isn't a late freeze or two to get them. I felt sorry for the peach growers the last couple of years. They lost a lot of money.