LOOK WHAT THE STORM BROUGHT ME

Here in Texas, the house finch is probably the lowest bird on the totem pole. They get no respect, aren't wanted in the garden, and are generally a pest since they are an invasive species that crowds out our native birds. And yet...

the storm last week brought me a baby sparrow. The high winds knocked down limbs and filled the backyard to the brim.  So I rushed outside to clear a path for the flood. That's when I spotted the tiny bird clutching a twig in the flowing water.

The poor thing was soaked to the bone and shivering when I held it against my warm T-shirt.

Since the electricity was out, I couldn't warm it up with a hairdryer.

Instead I just held the tiny thing in my hand for the next hour.

It fell asleep, but I wasn't sure if it was asleep or dead.

After awhile it started to fluff up and open its eyes.

I was relieved and petted its head.

By now it was MY sparrow from MY garden and I felt I needed to get it back to its momma.

There was a lot of interest from the kittens!

I made a cozy nest for it on the back swing and it didn't even try to fly away.

It just sat there and listened for its mother.

So I stepped back...

...and stepped back.

And then it was gone....gone to its mother.

I miss my little sparrow and after holding one

 I now feel quite differently about them.

And that's what the storm brought me....a memory...and

a tiny life to take care of 

 if just for a moment.

David/:0)

MORE FLOWERS? AN APOLOGY TO MY NON-GARDENING SPOUSE

I keep forgetting my wife is NOT a gardener. My summer job is just minutes away from three of my favorite mom and pop gardening shops, so I'm stopping by each day to see what's new or on sale. After arriving home with all my new flowers, I set up a nice display of the potted plants to surprise her. But instead of saying, "Wow, look at all these fantastic new plants," she just looked puzzled and said,

"More?"

I felt exactly like the cat that brings its owner a dead baby bird. It must be so puzzling for the cat,expecting to receive praise, to instead be...uh..dealt with. (My wife has a great sense of humor, so she's OK with this post...LOL)

I checked with my closest gardening friend and told her that my wife now thinks that we have too many flowers.

"Too many flowers?"  she said in a disturbed tone.

She thought a minute, then added, "You can never have TOO MANY FLOWERS."

Ahhh...I felt so much better as if a burden had been lifted.

But still I should probably apologize for going overboard  with this cottage garden thing. So, honey, I apologize for bringing home....

these gorgeous new plants for the garden.

I'm especially sorry about bringing home this butterly magnet..the ageratum.

I'll try to swat away all those beautiful butterflies. :0)

Oh, and I'm sorry about the rare Vinca 'JamsNJellies Blackberry' that I was searching for and found this week. I feel just terrible that I bought two. (They were a whopping $1.59 each)Shame on me!

I think I feel bad about this incredibly cute Dahlberg Daisy...

...that blooms in profusion.

And I feel mildly annoyed at myself about this Zinnia angustifolium 'Crystal Orange'. It begged to come along with the others.

And my sincere apologies for dragging home this Bat-faced Cuphea. You see, the honeybees would not leave it alone at the garden shop, so it just seemed the right thing to do. Our honeybees are going to be so happy now!

And the owner gave me this almost dead yucca. He said he was just throwing it away. Homeless plants need a home! Can you forgive me?

But, honey, I have to admit, the Zexmenia hispida was an impulse buy. I do ask your forgiveness even though I know this Texas native is bulletproof, attracts butterflies, and needs no fertilizer.

In fact, I know what every husband should do to make up for a terrible deed...

I should buy you some flowers!!!

Wanna come along?

David/:0)



GARDEN BOOK REVIEW: AMERICA'S COTTAGE GARDENS

If you'd like a book to comfort you about your crazy, exotic choices for plants or your hodgepodge ideas about landscaping, this is YOUR BOOK!  American Cottage Garden's  takes you on a fascinating journey on how American's invent their own styles of gardening based on harsh climates and locales. Here in Texas, we can only drool over the lovely cottage gardens of England. But somehow, someway, all over America, gardeners have found a way to get something (anything) to grow. This book is a celebration of those very personal gardens and the gardeners that choose to follow a different drummer we call Cottage Gardens.

I love this book since one of my hobbies is to find and photograph interesting and beautiful Cottage Gardens  in my part of Houston and display them on my other garden blog. Here's a taste of how gardeners here have beaten the odds (climate wise) to create their own styles.

I love this part of Houston!

 Hurray for Gardeners!

At almost 25 years old, America's Cottage Gardens, is a great look back at the beginnings of the current wave of cottage gardens. While the photos are nice, the best part of the book are the many stories about why the author finds a particular garden interesting and unique. Their writing styles is warm and personal, and might I add, timeless.

***

That's it for this time. A tip of the trowel to our fine host, Holley, for having us over for another Book Review party.

You can click on her colorful button at the top of my blog and see the whole collection at her blog, Roses and Other Gardening Joys.

Thanks, Holley!

Oh, and today's kitten photos of our little family. They're playing around with my socks while I write this.

They were hiding in the linen closet while the vacuum was going.

Happy Gardening!

David/:0)

CHAPTER DETAILS:

What is an American Cottage Garden?
by Patricia Thorpe and Eve Sonneman
Published: 1990 by Random House
Readily available for a couple of dollars at Barnes & Noble or Amazon Books

The South: Plantation Style & the reign of the azalea

Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky: Southern hospitality and a luxurient landscape

The West Coast: California, Cottage Survival

The Pacific Northwest: A climate created for gardening; anything grows

The Midwest: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri: 'The best soil on earth' and survival in a drought year

Texas: Independence and exuberance; the return of the native; the local color is Latin

Utah, Montana, Wyoming; Petunias and salvation; log cabins, forest fires and frost in July

 



NEW VINCA 'JamsNJelliesBlackberry' THE SEARCH FOR THE 2012 AAS WINNER

Well, here it is! I'd love to have this Vinca in my garden!




I am certain it would look good with all the purples, lavenders, pinks, and yellows in the garden, but I can't find it. Nobody has it for sale!

Has anyone grown it yet? It is a 2012 AAS winner. (Photo is from their website)

Today I went to Buchanan's Native Plants to take photos of all the Vincas in the Cora Series.

I'm putting them in order of what works well in my garden, but all are nice.

I took home a Titan Icy Pink. It has a frosted appearance and a deeper eye. Gorgeous!

The solid red is wonderful.

Another great one! Compare this one one with the new AAS winner at the top and you can see why I'm excited about 'JamsNJellies'.

'Deep Lavender' is currently the deepest purple readily available.

It's definitely a keeper. 

Polka dot comes in both the Cascade Series and Titan Series.

Strawberry was new and very few were open.

Cora Apricot is also very nice.

Here's Cora White.

Cora Pink

Cora Violet

Cora Red on the left and Cora Burgundy on the right.

Cora Burgundy

Cora Cascade Cherry. The Cascade Series drapes over and is intended for hanging baskets and planter boxes.

And the last one..Cora Cascade Magenta.

Before you head out today, I'll show you some other plants and features of Buchanan's Native Plants here in central Houston.

The sign gives you a hint of all you can see here. There's also a greenhouse.

I couldn't resist one of these sunloving coleus. I bought only one, but wanted all of them.

A colorful display in their bungalow gift shop.

I already have actual raccoons in my garden. Maybe I should buy them a friend!

What's a group of owls called? A Hoot of Owls?

This place is only 5 minutes from my summer job. I could visit every day!

Maybe I will.

My other two favorite plant shops are also 5 minutes away. I'll post about these as well.

It's going to be a great summer. :0)

Thanks for stopping by.

David