EPIPHYTE DAY ~ NEW GARDEN MEME by RAINFOREST GARDENER

Hey all, Happy New Year! Steve is cranking out a new garden meme for Epiphytes and I'm excited! But, alas, I'm in a quandary. You see:
I've started joining in at Carolyn's Blog on the first of the month with Garden Muse Day ~ A Poem,  A Verse, no matter how Terse, as long it's about some Garden decor, your Poetic entry will sure to Score.

So what shall I do?

For now, I'll do both,
 at the very same time
 with this Epiphytically* Driven
   Garden Rhyme. 

Epiphyte Poem  by David
It's such a delight,
to grow Epiphytes
All perched in the trees,
with their dappled light.

There are thousands for sure,
And it's hard to be candid,
But my favorite for now
 is Neo Red Banded!

To see all the Epiphytes, visit Steve at http://www.therainforestgarden.com/

And to join in on Garden Muse Day, visit Carolyn at http://sweethomeandgardenchicago.blogspot.com/

*No such word exists...I made it up

2010 ~ THE YEAR'S WEATHER CHART

2010 will stay in record books for a LONG time since it made the TOP 10 list 6 times in a variety of categories. I've added my personal comments as well, but the other information comes from the National Weather Service Top 10 list for records dating back to the 1880s.

To see all of the top ten, try this link:

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/hgx/?n=climate_iah_top10_dec

or google:  top 10 driest months in Houston.

And remember, if you don't like the weather in Texas, just wait an hour or two.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ A RAINBARREL! THANKS, SANTA!

Happy Wordless Wednesday. Visit A Beautiful Mess to see the Rest.
http://weloveiowa.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Alicia, for hosting. :0)

                      I wonder why he didn't just put it under the Christmas tree? Hmmm.....

RUBY TUESDAY ~ MYSTERY GARDEN TOOL

A strange Ruby Tuesday indeed! I have a new garden tool but I don't know the name. If you have one of these, please tell me what you call it. Happy Gardening and Happy Ruby Tuesday.

                        It would be next to impossible to lose this thing. I love the red handle.

                   It's great for working with compost and for digging flower beds.
        To see all the entries for this week, visit Mary,our host, at  http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

A CLOSE SHAVE WITH JACK FROST

We live deep within the Metro Houston 'Heat Island' . This makes for some interesting weather forecasts. I never actually know how cold it will be until it happens. We've had about 1 hour of frost so far this winter with a temperature of 32 degrees for about 20 minutes one morning. This was according to a home weather station in our neighborhood. It makes for some unusual scenes.

               Half the plant freezes. Inches away the other half is fine!  This happens with elephant ears as well.

                               Frost on the roof, but not on the plants.

                       I cover some plants with a blanket. Guess who decides to stop by? Our cat.

Jack Frost on leaves in our neighbor's yard across the street, but not on mine!

It's still a zone 10 (30-40 degree minimum) garden this year, but in January the tropical party will probably be over and my garden will settle down for its winter nap.

IT'S CHRISTMAS EVE ~ TIME TO DECORATE THE GARDEN

We'll be up at church tonight and I'll be playing in our brass quartet. But first, a few fast flourishes with ribbons and voila', 'Le Jardin' is ready for the swarms of visitors tomorrow. Merry Christmas, &amp Blessings to all.

                                   Hope someone in the neighborhood gets a laugh out of this one!

                        It says on the ribbon, "Let it Snow". That's funny for a tropical garden.

                                                                         This was fun!

                             Oops! How did my wife's cooking get in here? Oh well...I'm leaving it.

Merry Christmas from David & family

GARDEN BLOGGERS MONTHLY BOUQUET ~ LAST OF THE YEAR

Noelle at http://azplantlady.com/  hosts our monthly bouquet group. Are there any brave souls out there in the cold, bleak winter searching for those last flowers to assort and display? Go visit and see. :0)

                Not exactly Christmas colors, but Tradescantia doesn't come in red. If it does, send me some!

                                    Ah, that's better!  Mexican Firespike with variegated Alstroemeria. I did this for the November bouquet and it was such a hit with my wife, I did it for this month as well.

         After a year of regrowing from last Winter's freeze, the Brugmansia finally blooms just in time for the Holdiays.  Talk about patience...a whole year of waiting for this one bloom. That's 2 1/2 bouquets for this time around. The Brugmansia  hardly counts, but I think it's pretty.  Thanks for visiting. David :0)

RUBY TUESDAY ~ CHRISTMAS EDITION

Ruby Tuesday celebrates all things red. You can visit all sorts of crimson and rubies at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/   This week: What's RED on our Christmas tree.

                                 Traditional Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus

               I am from a Danish town in Texas where we put the Danish flag on the Christmas tree.

                  I couldn't have said it better!   Shhhh..He's sleeping.

                       We can only hope, can't we?  Maybe next year.

                      I learned to make these from a wonderful Danish friend here in the U.S.
                                   Merry Christmas from Tropical Texana.  I know this is a garden blog, so I will add that one of  our Christmas trees is alive. It is a Norfolk Island Pine and I'll show the entire tree soon. It usually stays outside in the garden until this time of year. It grows all year long. David :0)

MACRO MONDAY ~ NOTABLE LEAVES PLUS A BONUS BLOOM

These beautiful leaves are in my garden right now. They are pretty enough to hang on the Christmas tree, don't you think? Happy Macro Monday y'all. And be sure and visit Lisa at http://lisaschaos.com/ to see the rest of the collection. Merry Christmas from Tropical Texana. (Click on the photo to enlarge)  David  :0)

                               This scarlet leaf is from a pear tree down the street.

                                 From a small Sweetgum tree in our front yard.

                            Pomegranate leaves and their red petioles and square stems.

                           Nuttall Oak with Christmas colors.

                             Even the banana tree wants to add some Autumn color!

BONUS:  A lovely and fragrant Crinum lily still blooming at a neighbor's garden.

WHAT IS GARDENING? WILL IT GO EXTINCT?

Our older son planting sunflowers in 2004.

SO WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO GARDEN? :0)

I was teaching the other day when one of the children looked up and asked, "What is hiking?"

I was a bit shocked since our family has hiked in many of the state parks here in Texas, along with mountains in Colorado and even in North Carolina. Fortunately, this was a student just learning English and he was not sure of the meaning of this new word.

But it made me jump to this question that might be asked in the near future- "Teacher, what is gardening?"  

And this time the student knows English. They just have never gardened.  I learned gardening from my grandmother and from my parents. My children have learned the joys and tribulations of gardening from me. But will there ever be a time when a classroom of children will imagine gardening as this 'thing' people did long ago? I sure hope not.

Here's to all the grandparents out there that have taken time to garden with their grandchildren. My hats off to you! :0) David/ Tropical Texana

FOLIAGE FOLLOW-UP FOR DECEMBER 2010 ~ LEAF-O-RAMA

Thanks to Pam at digging for bringing us together; the Fellowship of the Foliage! Viva la Leaves. Visit
http://www.penick.net/digging see the rest of the group.
Our Fall foliage here in Houston has lasted for months and some of the trees are just starting to rev up their colors with oranges, reds, and yellows with a few purples to boot. Wow! Here's a sample from Tropical Texana, along with the monthly photo shots of palm fronds and agaves. No freeze yet....so on with the show:

                         Wisteria leaves against the Giant Bird of Paradise.

                                Leaves pile up in the Chinese Fan Palms.

                         The little Crepe Myrtle out back is stealing the show

                                     Licorice plant and Agave funkiana

                         Natural scene in front yard...Native Texas Trees Rock!

               Yea! The Mexican Fire Spikes made it through the "Almost Freeze" event.

                  Nuttall Oak leaves twixt the Agave leaves

Leaf Art in the Water Tub on the side of the house.

That's it for today. Thanks for visiting and LEAFING a comment. :0)

GBBD: DECEMBER BLOOMS WHEN I GET HOME AT NIGHT

It's kind of weird going around at night taking flower pictures, but I can't get home before sunset due to my 20 mile commute.  But that's OK. I'm just thrilled that I still have something blooming after the near misses with  freezing temperatures.  I also have a lot of Mexican Fire Spike blooming, but I'll put those in a future post since they are the quintessential flower for a Christmas bouquet. Visit Carol, our wonderful and witty host, at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/ to see other gardens in bloom at this time of the year...hopefully with a bit more daylight.

              Loquat....these flowers have a sweet, honeylike fragrance.

         The Mexican butterfly weed still attracts attention from late season butterflies.

                         Aloe saponaria.....seems to stay in bloom for months.

                     Rice paper plants have started their grandiose flower spikes.

                          I'm mystified by this mist flower still in bloom.

Bromeliad that blooms every winter right before a frost.

Thanks for stopping by Tropical Texana. Scroll down a bit to other posts if you want to actually SEE the garden during daylight. Happy GBBD!    :0) David

MY FIRST RUBY TUESDAY

I've seen this on a number blogs, so thought I would join in. The leaves this year are DAZZLING here in Houston. Usually our Fall colors consist of  brown, dark brown, light brown, and ugly yellow. The dry, cooler weather is probably the reason. Happy Ruby Tuesday. To see the whole collection, visit Mary at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

   Pictured Above: 1 Chinese Tallowtree (too invasive, don't plant these in Texas) 2 Chinese Pistache (OK for Houston, can handle poor soils and drought) 3 Nuttall Oak ( native tree that can grow in heavy clay soils) 4 Redbud (native tree that's a fast, understory tree)

Tallow trees have one redeeming quality...fabulous red foliage!

THE SECRET SIDE OF A CYCLAMEN ~ HAPPY MACRO MONDAY

Here in Houston the local garden shops bring us winter flowers that can bloom in the colder months. I wish I could afford a hundred cyclamens, but today I bought one. The cyclamen is a strange plant because as soon as it gets warm, it starts to die. If you keep it cool and bone dry all summer, you might get one to come back for a second year. It is from the Mediterranean area, so it is excited to grow in the winter when the rains come. It then goes dormant in the summer in its native habitat of Turkey and southward to Israel. Does anyone else grow cyclamens outdoors? I know they like good drainage.
Visit Lisa at http://lisaschaos.com/ to see the other Macros. She's our terrific host. Happy MM!

                                   on the surface

                                                  below the surface

                                               deep inside the cyclamen

                                           edge patterns look almost like they're made of liquid

All of this makes me wonder if Georgia O'keeffe ever painted a cyclamen. While she lived in New York, she would go to the local flower shops and buy a flower, then turn it into one of her gorgeous paintings. I have had the honor of seeing 3 of her original paintings here in Houston art museums. Her paintings are stunning.

Here's a Cyclamen growing wild in Israel. You can see why they like fast draining soil. (source: Wikipedia)