A SILVER GRAY BROMELIAD ~ HAPPY EPIPHYTE DAY!

Anyone else have a weakness for silvery plants? I have only a few, but always seek out new ones. This is one of those rare bromeliads that have that beautiful silvery green scale composition. It's called Aechmea "Little Naru".  I think it was developed locally since I can't find a single photo on Google images.  If you know more about "Little Naru", do share. My guess is that it came from Odean Head or David Mead.
Speaking of sharing, hop on over to Steve's Garden Blog for the rest of this month's epiphyte collection at http://www.therainforestgarden.com/.

Aechmea 'Little Naru'. The pups are silvery par excellence!

"LITTLE" Naru is my second largest bromeliad!

                      Someone has quite a sense of humor..."Little Naru" is anything but little when full grown.
                      OTHER FACTS FOR BROMELIAD ENTHUSIASTS:
             Aechmea 'Little Naru'  is about 2 1/2 feet x 2 1/2 in height and spread. It blooms periodically, though mine hasn't bloomed.  It sets pups yearly, but only 1 or 2 at a time. It abhors freezing weather. I almost lost this plant last winter.  It likes dappled shade and can take hot, summer temperatures. It is NOT fussy about soils or conditions, but keep it in a small, undersized pot with quick draining soil media.
OTHER SILVER BROMELIADS:
Aechmea fasciata,  Aechmea 'Romero', and many in the genus Tillandsia.

Thanks for stopping by. David/ Tropical Texana

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ ADDAMS FAMILY HERB GARDEN

If you remember Morticia and her  man-eating vine and snipped off roses, you'll enjoy my lovely collection of herbs.
It's  from my APRIL FOOL'S GARDEN.  None of these are actually herbs. But of course, what does it matter; you can't tell since they're all dead!   David/ Tropical Texana

BTW: These are all actual names for herbs. I've grown wormwood and it's a beautiful plant.

                 Addam's Family look-alike in Saline, Michigan.
                     Note: No dead plants were harmed during the making of this post.


 Addam's Family Opening Theme:      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFD7KGBUtKI

                  

                         

Wistful Wisteria: Happy Macro Monday

Wistful can mean a thoughtful sadness. I'm not sure the Wisterias feel this way, but I do. After only a brief week in bloom, the show is coming to an end. We have a small vine in our front yard and it had around 60 blooms this year...a new record. 
To see more wonderful photos, visit our wonderful host, Lisa, at http://lisaschaos.com/.

To see a Wisteria bouquet, just scroll down.

Thanks for stopping by Tropical Texana.

David/ :-)

GARDEN BLOGGERS MONTHLY BOUQUET ~ FIRST OF THE YEAR

My garden friend,Noelle at http://www.azplantlady.com/  over in Arizona, is once again hosting another year of bountiful bouquets from garden bloggers around the world. During  the 4th week of the month, all are invited to make a bouquet from garden flowers and foliage from your garden.
I've picked the last of the trailing Wisteria, added some gray Artemesia, and some wild snapdragons for a Lavender flower bouquet. I gave it to my wife and she, of course, was surprised since there was no holiday attached to the flowers.
Join in on the fun next month if you have some flowers blooming and surprise someone around you. Happy GBMB! :0)

"Bee" careful around wisteria...it's like a small airport buzzing with activity!

Thanks for visiting.

David/

GOOD GUY, GOOD GUY, BAD GUY: HAPPY 3 FOR THURSDAY

When you go completely organic in regards to gardening, the beneficials have to step up to the plate and take charge of controlling the 'bad guys'. Beneficials appear like magic, but you have to look diligently to find most of them. 
To see another Three for Thursday, visit my garden friend Cindy at My Corner of Katy. She's over on my Blog Roll favorites. And join in, won't you?  Post 3 of anything  gardenesque and join the fun. :-)

GOOD GUY/GAL: Ladybugs have a voracious appetite for aphids. If you spray and poison the aphids, your ladybug population suffers. This one has some beautiful spots, doesn't it?

GOOD GUY: Assissin bugs travel alone, stink bug nymphs travel in groups. This one was so stealthy I could barely snap a photo. They love to get on the opposite side of a leaf and hide. They eat anything they can catch.

BAD GUY: But not really. It was all alone and nibbling a bit on the wisteria vines. Plus, he'd better watch out for that assassin bug. It was on the same wisteria! In the meantime, who can resist those snazzy black and white antennae and cute bug eyes? Click to enlarge photo.

Thanks for stopping by. David/

WILDFLOWER BEAUTIES BY THE BAYOU ~ HAPPY WILDFLOWER WEDNESDAY

I wish these wildflowers would last the entire summer, but alas, they are here for a few short weeks and then they fade away. But summer brings a new host of wildflowers to enjoy. These were taken along the 11th Street Bridge along White Oak Bayou here in Houston. To see more of this month's wildflowers all over the world, visit our wonderful host Gail at Clay & Limestone http://www.clayandlimestone.com/ .

wild sweet pea

some other wild pea

wild dewberries or blackberries

cow vetch (?)

evening primrose  (some call it a buttercup)

another wild sweet pea

Texas bluebonnet, our State flower!

A patch of bluebonnets intermingled with last season's grass stems.

Thanks for stopping by. David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston

The Blue eyes of Blue-eyed Grass: Happy Macro Monday

My family has a small bay lot down on the Texas coast and this past week we were able to visit. By far, this is my favorite wildflower down at the bay. It's either Sisyrinchium langloisii or S. pruinosum. One has shorter leaves than the other and frankly, I wasn't paying much attention to the leaves!
The other species of blue-eyed grass found here is Sisyrinchium exile and its....YELLOW...go figure!
Visit our wonderful host Lisa at http://lisaschaos.com/ for more Macro fun.
David/ Tropical Texana

Click on image for the MACRO.....there's a fine line of purple that edges the yellow. Do you see it?

Another species? This was growing along White Oak Bayou.

This is a pale blue Sisyrinchium, perhaps S. campestre. They sow wildflowers along the bayou and this could be anything.

GARDEN CONSERVANCY'S OPEN DAY PROGRAM ~ HOUSTON ~ MARCH 26, 2011

Thanks to my garden friend Pam at Digging http://www.penick.net/digging ,  I've posted information about The Garden Conservancy's Open Day which is coming up this weekend, March 26th, here in Houston. I'm sure these will be inspiring gardens to view and photograph. Here's the link:
http://www.gardenconservancy.org/index.php?view=openday&id=331%3Ahouston-open-day-saturday-march-26&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=39


By the way, this is not the same as the River Oaks Azalea Trail Garden tour. It's another group of breathtakingly beautiful gardens. Here's the link for that event which was earlier in the month:
http://www.riveroaksgardenclub.org/AzaleaTrail.cfm

David/ :-)

FARMER'S ALMANAC MOON NAMES

Tonight's my favorite FULL moon. I recall fond memories as a boy. I'd open the bedroom windows and watch the clouds float past and view the moonbeam garden outside the window.  The crickets and night sounds of Spring would lull me to sleep.
Yes, this is my favorite full moon.
Nowdays, we get to have our windows open here in Texas, but not too long.
By May, the A/C units come on and the windows are shut in response to our constant  battle against torrid conditions. It was 88 degrees in Austin yesterday and 80 here. I actually perspired a bit (not expired!) while gardening yesterday. Oh boy.

The March Full Moon is the Worm Moon

(Not very romantic sounding)

MOON NAMES

January ~ Wolf Moon

February ~ Snow Moon

March ~ Worm Moon

April ~ Pink Moon

May ~ Flower Moon

June ~ Strawberry Moon

July ~  Buck Moon

August ~ Sturgeon Moon

September ~  Corn Moon

October ~ Harvest Moon

November ~  Beaver Moon

December ~ Cold Moon or Long Nights Moon

Thanks for visiting Tropical Texana

David/



HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY ~ THE GREENEST OF HOLIDAYS

Luck o' the Irish to ya. I'm not at all Irish, but my wife could be. She's a BOYD and there are Scottish, English, and even Irish people of that surname. I celebrate for another reason: it's officially the END of the winter season and even though we could get a freeze, it would be FREAKISH and historical. (Now, watch it happen...ugh!)
For this THREE for THURSDAY, I'm doing a SHAMROCK theme. I battle Oxalis all the day long and I've given up. So there's a million of these shamrock-shaped leaves all over the garden.
Visit my garden friend Cindy at http://www.mycornerofkaty.com/ to see the founding flowers of this fabulous format. I had the delightful opportunity to visit her wondrous garden last week and the blooms seem endless. Caveat: If she does not post her own Three for Thursday it's for good reason...she's out in her garden gardening just like I should be doing!

Thanks for stopping by Tropical Texana. David

GBBD: MARCH OF THE WILDFLOWERS IN MY YARD

This will be the only time for so much sun in my shady garden, so the little wildflowers jump at the chance before the leafy canopy closes in from above. Of course, I'll appreciate all that shade when the temps hover around 95F !
These are tiny wildflowers, both native and and non-native that make their home at Tropical Texana. Since I have a wildlife garden as well, I figure some little insect appreciates the nectar.
To see some outstanding garden flowers popping up around the world, visit our host Carol at http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/. You'll be inspired!  Happy GBBD from down here in Texas! David :-)

We start out with Azalea 'Pride of Mobile'. It's not a wildflower, but its wild cousin grows in deep East Texas. The hard freeze last month did no damage, so all 3 of mine are putting on quite a show.

This is wild strawberry. It's one of my groundcovers. It behaves in shade, but can take over elsewhere.

This is Prairie Windflower....isn't that the best name for a wildflower?

This a tiny yellow clover that seems to think it wants to be my new lawn! After it blooms, it will get to enter my renewable resource program (nice way of saying compost pile).

Like many here in the South, I have fought this oxalis and lost the battle. I have made my peace with its ever spreading bulblets. What a pretty enemy, don't you think?

This native oxalis is called yellow wood sorrel. It is the well-behaved cousin. I like it so much more.

The trailing vetch has a tiny, but intricate bloom. VETCH is such an awful sounding word for a little plant. It sounds like someone is cursing. Example: Oh vetch, some weed is growing in those potted plants again!

It needs another name like Rambling Peavine.

I posted about this one already, but I just love these little violets. They are natives and all over my garden. I've even got some up in the rocky Agave beds. They seem to think that's OK even though I told them to stay in the woodland garden out back.

Well, that's the tour. If you find yourself crawling around on your hands and knees this week (hopefully in the garden, not at work), be on the lookout for tiny surprises. There might be a little wildflower waiting for you.

David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston

WILD ABOUT WILD GERANIUMS: HAPPY MACRO MONDAY

This little geranium pops up occasionally in my shady garden. It has a beautiful, deeply incised leaf and the flower, when magnified is stunning. It surprised me when I finally viewed one up close. Wild geraniums can be pink, white, blue, and even dark red.
The Latin name for this one is Geranium pusillum and its common name is Small-flowered Cranesbill. The best image I could find to confirm this was from a wonderful botanical garden blog in...RUSSIA! So how did this little guy get in my garden and gardens all across the U.S.? Visit our wonderful host Lisa to see other mysteries at http://lisaschaos.com/ . It's a fun group!
By the way, our garden variety Geraniums aren't in the Geranium family! David/ Tropical Texana

The little bee or fly is extremely tiny...measured in millimeters!

Here's the leaf and actual size.

Thanks for stopping by.

 

IS THERE A BETTER TERM THAN working IN THE GARDEN?

Today I was able to work in the garden all morning.  But WORK in the garden sounds wrong.
What should we say?
It's definitely WORK....lifting, hauling, shoveling, pulling, bending over...but it doesn't FEEL like work when you love what you are doing.

I didn't PIDDLE,  I didn't SURVEY the garden, I...I..we just don't have the correct verb in English for this process...I GARDENED in the GARDEN is a true statement, but a bit redundant don't you think?

Maybe someone in another country has a better verb that means work, but not in a bad way. Can anyone help me?  I guess I could look on an online Thesaurus, but it's still sunny and warm right out the window and I need to get back to WORKING in the garden. LOL  Hope as much for you wherever you are! David

Putting in a new bed. The front grass will become a gravel area. My water bill is too high and this area too dry.

The bees are busy! Azaleas all around Houston are still in bloom.

THE ALSTROEMERIA DILEMMA: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

I'm pulling up all of my regular Alstroemeria this Spring. I'm keeping the slower growing and much better behaved variegated variety. At first the small clump was of no concern. But this Spring I've noticed that it has SOMEHOW started growing in 2 other flowerbeds and in my monkey grass. It needs no care, no extra watering, no fertilizer, and yet blooms every Spring with its exotic crimson flowers. Still, I'm alarmed and it needs to go before it takes over the rest of my garden.
This is a tough call for me since it seems like the perfect plant....but it's a quiet creeper.

Exotic blooms, but beware if you live in a wet, zone 9 area!

Alstroemeria can easily make it through droughts....here's why!

Seems OK, until you lift the stones and find hundreds of white runners!

The variegated variety is much slower and I'll keep it.

The regular green variety is too powerful and overwhelms my other plants.

If you live in Houston or the Gulf Coast and REALLY want to grow it, keep it in a pot and not in the ground.

Thanks for stopping by. David/ Tropical Texana

Three White Flowers in Bloom Right Now: Happy 3 For Thursday

Do you like white flowers?  They seem so underappreciated, but can be so beautiful. Here are 3 in bloom here in Houston in early March.
And please go visit other 3 for Thursdays on my sidebar favorites. It's a fun way to organize your garden topics and all because of my garden friend, Cindy at http://www.mycornerofkaty.com/  Please go check out her wonderful garden. :-)

Black Foot Daisies already in bloom! Melampodium leucanthum

 Crow Poison  Nothoscordum bivalve

picked by schoolchildren to give to their teachers every Spring. It's poisonous if ingested, so don't eat it.

Bradford Pear is blooming on my street. Pyrus calleryana from Korea

YIPES! I'VE LOST SOME OF MY THUMBNAILS! BLOG EXPERT NEEDED

That sounds just awful, but what I mean is this: sometime about a month ago the display of my thumbnail images ceased. I've noticed that my old posts still contain thumbnail images(see POPULAR POSTS on the right), but the new ones don't. Anyone know why? I've reclicked the 'show images' box and resaved, but nothing changes. Do BLOGGERS have a thumbnail limit from Google?  Also, has this happened to anyone else. Thanks to anyone who can help solve this mystery. I really would like to have all of my thumbnails back!

Fresh Peppers!

From our local Farmer's Market on Airline Street...wouldn't this make a nice thumbnail!

David/ Tropical Texana/

WEEDS 101: NEW GUINNESS RECORD?

What would be the record for the greatest number of weed species in between the cracks of a  patio area?
Yesterday I counted 20! I wonder if I should contact the Guinness World Record people.
In the midst of all of these miscreants, I  found one so cute that I'm letting it grow. It's in the bottom photo. The others get to become compost...except for the STICKYWEED pictured below. Don't put it near your compost. I've fought it for 3 solid years and I think I've finally gotten the last of it.

Stickyweed aka Galium aparine....my nemesis!

Part of the 20 species of patio crevice weeds.

This one actually looks good in the cracks along with moss. I'll keep it.

Thanks for stopping by to weed this post. LOL

David/ Tropical Texana :0)