For anything you don't get a name for any other way, there is a plant identification forum on Dave's. A lot of knowledge on plant ID's there.
Finally Got Here!!! New In Town.
Fancyflea ~ the third photo is a piper nigrum or piper betel. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/620613/
Not sure but the foliage of the first two favor an orchid ~ Bletilla?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/3330/
Very pretty... Lucky you! Off to taste my pepper vine ~ LOL
The second picture looks like some type of ginger, most likely butterfly ginger (Hedychium coronarium).
definitely not Bletilla, I grow 4 variations--this is Bletilla foliage about a month ago--2nd one looks like butterfly ginger to me too
There you have it! A second look at the tall one and I would say it is a ginger but its' foliage is not as full as the Hedychium coronarium which I have. Blooms will ID it for sure... and I'll be shot at sunrise, LOL
Welcome FancyFlea!!!
That spider photo is Orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta)
This is a good link for Texas Spiders:
http://www.bugsinthenews.com/spiders_in_the_fern_bluff_mud.htm
~ Cat
Number one is a Curcuma. Possibly http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58846/ There are several varieties and you should be able to identify for sure when it blooms.
Sweezel..your are correct. I found a flower near the ground. Thanks for the info.
Texaspuddyprint...Thanks for that sight. I had never seen a spider that was so colorful.Also thank you for the welcome. I really love it here. Last night just before it got really dark I took a walk in the garden. I could hear a train whistle in the distance(which I love) and then I looked up and saw the full moon just coming up over the trees. Heaven on earth...right here in Texas!
This message was edited May 19, 2008 7:54 AM
Lol - yeah, but this is still the cool weather (yesterday was 92, I think). Just wait until it REALLY heats up! ;)
Glad you are enjoying it! One of the refreshing things to me (a former So. Californian) is that it stays green here year-round. No dead brown grass in the summer here! Yay!
Welcome to our fine city, fancyflea. Glad you have found Texas to your liking (as so many of us have).
I'm not so much into flowers, but love to cook and eat, so try to raise a few veggies and greens, and herbs for the restaurant as well as home.
A "get-together" is something the greater Houston DG family seems to love. We have had a few, and are always up for more..
Kristi, Randy - Dave is about to bottle another fine red at Circle S Vineyards. We need to do another "garden party", and show this newcomer how very friendly we really are.
Welcome to Texas FancyFlea!
We have a lot of lizard friends here in Texas. Something I've discovered is that the ones with the whitish stripe down their backs are the females, while those that don't have the stripes are the males. The males are the ones that do the red throated thing also. Going back and checking out all of my photos of "lizard love" was what brought me to this conclusion. The females are generally smaller, except when they are pregnant. Then their little bellies swell up on the sides.
Here is a pair of lizards "doing their thing".
Around here, they're all called Schweetie. :-) I love them all and welcome them to my yard. They keep the undesirable bug population down to a minimum. Unfortunately, they do get a dragonfly now and then. And I "scold them for it", whenever I see that happen, even though I know in my heart, that's just nature.
I have a butterfly ginger that looks much like your 2nd photo above. The blooms are beautiful!
Janet
This message was edited May 19, 2008 9:51 AM
Welcome to Houston, FancyFlea.
I'm another transplant - from New England, no less. Came because of a job and stayed because... well, it's Houston. Other than the insane drivers, this is a wonderful place to be.
And the growing season is out of this world.
Thank you all for your warm welcome and info. I look forward to meeting up with some of you guys in the future.
Lis
Hi and Welcome !!
Great Place and WONDERFUL people here they have really saved me this last year.... we just moved here last July from Northern Illinois.
I have been to a couple of RU's and it is a blast and putting faces to names just makes it one big family.
There are 2 Ru's taking place this next month (June)
one is over in Bufflao June 8th - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/815723/
and the other one is by Jacksonville June 28th - http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/851178/
Phyllis
Here's one of those critters looking somewhat different.......I would guess, looking for a mate.
He looks so serious!!!
Pam
What a cool photo! He looks so vain and handsome... lol
This is not a real clear photo but about a month ago, I watched with sadness as an injured lizard pulled himself up a plant with his front legs. His back legs didn't work and he had no tail. I suspect he had been the target of a marauding cat but had managed to escape their clutches. To what end? How sad.
Yesterday morning I saw this guy that can only be him... He is a paraplegic and his spine was visibly injured. The hindquarters have atrophied but amazingly he has grown a new tail. He was perched in the fronds of Neomarica gracilis and dining on whatever bugs came into his reach. I was overjoyed to know he has survived. If he can avoid the carnivores, he is welcome to reside amongst the plants. A friend suggested, perhaps he could be fitted for a scooter ~ LOL
Sorry to hijack ~ Fancyflea!
Oh, how sad! But the tail always grows back...that's one way they survive. They deliberately leave the tail behind to survive if they have to, because they can grow another.
Great photo of the Anole, Morganc. I read that that's what the males do to attract a female. Poor little guy podster. I thought for a second it was a frog. Amazing he has managed to survive. You can hyjack anytime...Mibus, I'll have to check to see where Buffalo and Jacksonville is. By the way what do you all do at an RU? what is an RU??
Ru is short for Round Up a Texas term of course...hehehe...will hear about that I'm sure...a garden party get together whatever ya want to call it
well my experience so far is you can bring plants to trade with others( if you have any and if you don't you are still welcome to come I'm still working on getting plants here at my place so I don't have alot other then things I do know of and have tooo many of) ...
you get to meet face to face and talk gardening or whatever...depending on what is going on you can bring your own food or do a potluck..the last one we went on a "tour" of local homes and places along with swapping some plants then eating too LOL
Jacksonville is north of Lufkin on 69... I know for fact it is 3 hours from my house to Tomball and Jacksonville is almost 1/2 hour south of me
Buffalo is off of 45 on 79 which is north of Huston...distance I am not sure of
Check the links above they have maps/directions on them or do a mapquest from Missouri City to each town and it will tell ya
Which reminds me y'all (meaning not just those in the east) are welcome to come to it also!!!!
Welcome fancyflea!
I was born on the SE side of Houston some odd years ago, moved to TN. and moved back to the country. You can take the girl out of TX but you can never take TX out of the girl... that goes for men too...lol
Stick around!! You will find the friendliest people right here in TX.
Becky
Thanks Becky.....
That colorful spider looks like a brown recluse and it is poisonous..
The brown recluse has a 'violin shape' on it's back and no colors other than shades of brown. They're very common down here, hiding in dark spaces, under rocks, on docks and decks, etc. Their webs look more like nests than a spider web and they are not out in the open. The picture above isn't poisonous.
Thanks, I thought I saw a fiddle on it's back .. Sorry...Elvina
No need to be sorry....it's how we all learn. My father was bitten by a brown recluse and if you could have seen his hand. And boy, was he ever sick....hallucinating and all. I like good spiders but I'm terribly afraid of the poisonous ones.
Welcome fancyflea! Due to a few problems am late finding this thread.
Next time you see an Anole, note the beautiful eyes.
And looking into dark places, frequently see bright color as the Orchard Spider likes these kinds of places. They are very colorful.
Great pictures, trois!
Eeek, there's that spider on the front page again!!! Now I know how the people who are fearful of snakes feel when a snake picture shows up. Welcome to Texas Gardening, Fancy Flea ... next time will you post a flower or bird or something besides a .... shudder .... spider?? :-)
Carla
severely Arachnophobic
Thanks, Bubba!
OK, Carla. How about a Waltzing Lady Hibiscus?
WOW, Trois, that thing is so uniquely beautiful, it doesn't even look real. Yes indeed, that is much preferrable to a yucky old spider!
Carla
But the yucky spiders eat skeeters and other pests..
Yes, they do. But I don't want to look at them!! I don't think they're bad and, if they're outside, I leave them alone. But I don't want to look at them!!!! They're yucky!
Carla
LOL Loonie... I am with you.. BUT some are quite pretty.. I will stay on my side ..if they stay on theirs! we DO need help with those skeeters though... LOTS of help!
There is no such thing as a pretty spider. They are all yucky! :-)
Carla
Is it their legs?
When I was little, my 3 older brothers used to scare me with them, so it's hard to pinpoint just what "one" thing terrifies me. When I see one, I always think it's going to try to get on me. And, to me, they are just incredibly ugly. I'm sorry, that's just what I think.
I know, it makes no sense whatsoever. I'm not afraid of snakes or junebugs or other insects or toads or lizards or other creepy crawlies. But show me a spider and I'm a mass of quivering goo.
Carla
Welcome there Fancyflea!!! I am just now getting to this forum also. I think it had to do with the spider on the post! LOL!
Carla....Not to keen on spiders myself. I hate to see them capture my caterpillars, butterflies and moths. Then there is the walking into a web especially at night that creeps me.
Hope to meet you in the future Fancy!