BEST OF 2012 SLIDESHOW..uh..IF YOU CAN FIND IT!

Once again it is time for the end of the year garden slideshow. I hope it warms your heart on this cold winter day. Even with all the pretty flowers and foliage, I still like the "kitten in my garden shoe" photo the most! 

David/:0)
P.S. After many exasperating attempts, I can't get the thing to embed properly.....so..........
Click on the link below, then find the slideshow tab to see the slideshow.
This monarch from my garden will lead the way!
https://plus.google.com/photos/105044630879610718276/albums/5827049551534042929

Note: All of the photos were taken here in my Houston garden except for these 3:

1)The giant bottle tree is at the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence, Texas

2) The very cool birdhouse collection belongs to my garden friend Janine here in Houston

3) The sidewalk with the white building and herbs spilling over is in Castroville, Texas

*****



A SCREECH OWL TWO STEPS AWAY!

I was out tonight with that gorgeous full moon shining. I was taking some kitchen scraps out to the compost pile when a movement caught the corner of my eye. Something had been on the ground and had flown up to a small branch. It stayed and stayed just sitting there. As my eyes adjusted, I could tell it was a small screech owl. I had no idea they hung around all winter in my backyard.
Of course I had no camera. ( Do YOU take your camera out to a compost pile late at night? LOL)
Soooo...I slowly moved backwards and walked back into the house to get one.

I was guessing there would be a 100% chance that the owl was gone....I mean, why would it stick around for me?
But...it must have really wanted to get back to hunting in that little spot of the yard. I stepped, took a picture, then stepped again closer until I was just two steps away.  We spent what seemed like an eternity looking at each other. Then, in a flash, the owl was gone. Have you ever been so close to something wild that you didn't want it to end? That's how I felt.
I really want to make some owl boxes for this garden.
David/ :-)

He was not at all scared of me. I got the distinct impression that this was his garden, not mine. :-)

I'D LIKE TO MAKE A BLANKET STATEMENT

I always imagined gardening would look about the same all over the world. Plants, tools, digging, watering and such are on the menu for everyone. But, for zone 9ers a big part of the show is covering plants. I would guess people in tropical climates would view the photo below with amused curiosity. Likewise in Canada.
I also figured out something else. Next time we have a close brush with freezing weather, I'm going to make note of the gardens in my neighborhood with the most things covered.  Why? Because it shows that you don't want your tender plants to die. Plus, I'd be curious as to what exactly  they were covering! LOL

I covered about 12 plants this time around. These are tropical plants that are in the ground and are not as hardy as the rest. I can already tell that it was worth the effort.  I have about 100 plants that don't need covering...they've either gone into hibernation or can take colder weather. About 40 of my favorites are indoors or in my greenhouse.  I fear January freezes, but to be honest, February is the month that fills me with the most dread. It's been as low as 18 here in February and that would probably be the end of most of my tropical garden.
But, on the bright side, the weather is rebounding by 10 degrees each day. We'll be back up to 70 by Monday. I can't wait.

A curious sight

BRING IN THE CLOUDS ~ JUST IN TIME!

The frigid predictions left me dreading my first glimpse of the tropical garden this morning. But, rather than the 25 predicted, we had a low of 28.5 here in central Houston. Some areas had a predicted low of 21 to 25, so I was more than relieved. It will be another cold night, but the cloud bank is thickening and rolling in over the region. That's good for a 3 to 5 degree moderation. Light breezes are worth 1 to 2 degrees of moderation as well. And crossing my fingers...well, it just makes me feel better. :-)

Last night the NWS had a current temp of 35 at 10 PM at Hobby Airport. I always figure a 1 degree drop per hour with 7 AM having the lowest reading. That was going to be a number around 28. Sometimes that prediction holds and sometimes it turns out that the temp is lower if the air is still and the ground is dry. We have almost saturated soil right now, so that helped as well.
Just 5 more weeks of this Weather Russian Roulette and the threat of VERY severe cold is over.

                     Clouds shown with the trees across the street. Even a few clouds can be good news.

About 1/2 of Tropical Texana is cold hardy. Lady fern and variegated alstroemeria can take a frost.

COLD WEATHER AHEAD ~ TIME TO DUCK INSIDE ~ HAPPY WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Tropical Texana is bracing for 3 nights of frigid weather. This is the 2nd consecutive year and now I'll have to see just which plants are doomed to regrow from scratch. In the meantime, I'll let these beautiful ducks express my feelings.  I took these shots at Hermann Park, Houston, Texas.

I need to "pare down" my tropical plant collection.

How A Tropical Gardener feels when they say it's going to really freeze tonight.

I could 'rail' about this weather, but what would it matter?

I have all my ducks in a row...the plants are all covered.

There will still be beauty after all this is over.

Happy Worldless Wednesday. To see other great entries, visit our wonderful host, Alicia at http://weloveiowa.blogspot.com/

Thanks for flying in to visit. :0) David

BTW: Anyone know the species of  duck? I'd love to know.

MACRO MONDAY ~ THE GEORGIA O'KEEFFE FLOWER

Have you ever had a perfect moment in photography? The light is perfect, no breeze, all is still, the angles, the subject...everything?  It felt this way when I was able to get these pictures of our white Brugmansia just before the Christmas frost. I took many, many photos, but these are the best. Happy Macro Monday! And...to see the rest, visit our delightful host Lisa at http://lisaschaos.com/
Oh, and if one of these is your favorite, please tell me. I'd love to know. Thanks.

                      (click on photo for Macro)  This is probably my favorite. The viewer wants to peer into that mysterious interior while viewing all around the edges. I captured a little green at the bottom to show perspective and to give the eye a place to go and 'rest' from all the whiteness.  The hint of sunlight at the top of the crest shows some of the detailed hairs and gives a hint of texture. Can you see what I'm talking about, or am I just crazy? :0)

A few facts & my experience with  Brugmansias:

1. They tolerate NO frost, but are very root hardy and regrow faster than any plant outside of vines and bamboo. In a light frost, they will sprout from the stems and regrow even faster. They can bloom in one season after freezing back to the ground. That's amazing!

2. They are quite poisonous. Do NOT grow indoors around pets and small children.

3. They are prone to love high humidity and droop in low humidity. They can recover from dry spells.

4. They are very thirsty plants and need watering daily in temps above 92 degrees.

5. They can grow into small trees and have beautiful  foliage and flowers.

6. I have two varieties and really enjoy the fragrance of one. The other is overpowering.

7. I would recommend this plant for Hawaii, Australia, Tropical Asia, Central America, Central & South Florida, Puerto Rico and the West Indies. It can be grown outdoors in Houston and San Antonio (?).

8. They readily root from cuttings or directly in moist soil.

9. They are native to subtropical South America.

Thanks for stopping by Tropical Texana.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ HELP FOR THOSE REALLY STUBBORN WEEDS

Any weeds come to mind?

Maybe Nutgrass?  :-)

NEW INVASIVE SPECIES STRIKES HOUSTON GARDENS

This is for Houston Garden Girl since she posted a hilarious video regarding a new invasive species. I think it's done by a botanical garden! I promise you'll laugh. :-)
You will have to watch the video at http://houstongardengirl.blogspot.com/  to get the yard art connection in the picture I'm posting. She passed it on after seeing it on Plano Prairie Garden...another garden in the know (or shall we say in gnome). Visit at http://planobluestem.blogspot.com/ to see a great conservation garden filled with native prairie grasses up in the Dallas region.

I commented to Houston Garden Girl that pink flamingos were another invasive species we have to deal with here in the south.
This yard has both.

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Hope your garden chores are not quite as bad as this.

Background: This is from the museum in Castroville, Texas. When the Texas State Parks Dept. purchased the land, they hired help to clean out an old Mill Run along the Medina River. A 100 foot underground section had completely filled with muck.

Castroville also has lovely antique shops, so let's finish on a positive note. We loved this rustic antique shop in the downtown section.

Rustic garden and shop.

GARDEN NEWS HERE AT TROPICAL TEXANA.

Things are hopping around here.

It's DAY 40 with hardly any good rains, but Tropical Storm Hermine(?) is out in the Gulf bringing us storm clouds and the prospect of floods(!) during this drought-like period.

Also, we saw our first warbler in the garden yesterday and our first hummingbird.

I cleaned up the hummingbird feeder and got it up and running.

They've already found it.

Can you see the green hummingbird? It's on the feeder.

It's a ruby-throated female.

THE SHIN DAGGER MYSTERY ~ A CASE OF AGAVE INTRIGUE

It was at a local garden center that I found this perplexing, but wonderful mystery; all 5 plants had the same tag and same botanical name, but something was amiss.

All have the Agave lechuguilla label!

I was on a tight schedule and a I tight budget (always!), so I bought the most variegated and in my mind most un lechuguilla-like specimen.

On the way home, I kept thinking, this is probably a mislabeled Agave lophantha; something I've already got tons of. But here's what I saw:

Geeez...not even close! A. lophantha is on the left. What's going on here?

That night I thought, there was another one with a darker, hunter green color and lighter stripe.

It certainly was pretty. I should have bought it...it was the only one left.

Ugh! Bet it's already gone. I didn't sleep well.

It was still there! Whew! I brought it home and left the 'real' shin daggers alone.

They are a very common agave in West Texas that no one much thinks about when landscaping.

But the mystery remains...what are these agaves?

I love a good mystery, don't you?

Anyone have a clue?

THREE FOR THURSDAY: 3 ABSTRACT PICS FROM THE PAST

Are you sad when you see the photos you've taken of plants you had in the past? These 3 shots are exactly that: tropical plants that fizzled out for whatever reason. Yet the memories are worth it and hey... we can always try again. Right?

Peace Lily ~ Spathiphyllum species ~large leaf variety

Cat palm in bloom. Died in the last freeze. I'll definitely try this one again.

Chamaedorea cataracterum

I actually had two gardens back in 2004. My neighbor let me grow all of our sunloving favorites in her front yard. We loved our sunflowers the most. This one even looks like the sun itself.

Sadly, my garden buddy passed away a number of years ago and our dual garden is now only a fond memory.

Gardens ebb and flow and I'm happy for the memories.

Do you have a nostalgic Three for Thursday tucked away?

Thanks to Cindy in Katy for the fabulous format. Please join us sometime. It's three related pictures of anything gardenesque.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY ~ ADDAMS FAMILY HANGING BASKET

If you remember Morticia cutting off beautiful roses and just keeping the stems, you'll appreciate this lovely hanging basket.  It's in our garden and I just can't bear to throw it away. It kinda grows on you after awhile.

I tried to find out if there's a real Addams Family Mansion. The closest match is the one below.

Addams Family Look alike ~ Saline, Michigan

Do you have any Addams Family Dead Plants in your garden?

GOOD-BYE AUGUST ~ HELLO SEPTEMBER

DO NOT LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. SO...HOW WAS YOUR AUGUST?
AUGUST 2011 READ BELOW
Just one year ago I thought the summer of 2010 was hard to endure. Now looking back, it was a bad. But not hideous. Reading back I seemed so hopeful that this was just a bump in the road. Now after a year of enduring drought I'm worn out hoping for rain. Tropical Storm Lee promised much but delivered little: just .04" of rain. About the same as getting the sidewalks wet. Hoping for a better winter with rain.

THE AUGUST OF 2011 IS NOW ON THE RECORD BOOKS FOR:
*MOST NUMBER OF DAYS OVER 100 (30 OF THE 31 IN THE MONTH)
**HOTTEST EVER RECORDED
***2ND DRIEST EVER RECORDED WITH JUST .09" OF PRECIPITATION
****THAT MAKES TWO DIFFICULT AUGUSTS IN A ROW.  OUCH!
*****ENTIRE FORESTS OF PINE AND HARDWOODS ARE TURNING BROWN AND NEAR DEATH.
******I'M GUESSING 21 INCHES BEHIND ON OUR RAINFALL IS A NEW RECORD
*******I'M PREDICTING THAT 2011 WILL BE THE DRIEST YEAR SURPASSING 1917.

AUGUST 2010 READ BELOW
I'm no wimp. I've gardened in Texas all my life and expect August to be hot, humid, and sometimes dry. BUT I"M TIRED OF WATERING! We are now on day 31 waiting for a good rain.
For the records, our garden got rain 3 days with .10", .15", and .40" inches for a total of .65" This makes it the 3rd driest in the 100 years of record keeping. (Now watch it rain 2 or 3 inches tomorrow!!! OK by me!)

As far as temperatures go, they had already said by mid-month that we were in the hottest August on record. And the second half was all 97s and above practically every day. No relief at night either with temps at or just below 80 (that's right 8....0) every night. Average for this time of year: 92-72 each day.

Still, I was happy to observe the resilience of the flora and fauna in the garden. I have about 7  drinking spots for wildlife which makes this garden a mecca for thirsty critters.
Took some photos early this morning before church. I don't usually point my camera directly at the sun and it  makes me wince to look at the photos.  I'm glad for the shade, but GOOD-BYE AUGUST!

Still...it's a beautiful month in a Tropical Garden

That's it from here.

How was your August?

August Garden Bouquet ~ Tropical Heat

Monthly Garden Bouquet is a monthly meme (3rd week of the month) started by Noelle of AZ Plantlady fame. To view the complete collection, please visit her wonderful blog in my blog favorites...Ramblings From a Desert Garden.  There's a small, but beautiful collection of bouquets this month.
           My wife is starting to enjoy this monthly tradition. When I brought this one into the house, she just laughed and smiled. She already knew what I was going to say....Happy August! No other special occasion needed.
I really have 2 bouquets to post, mine and a friend.
She's a veteran gardener and great friend, but she won't reveal her age or how long she's been gardening! :-)

Red flowers~ Mexican fire spike, along with some yellow coreospsis and white black foot daisies.

The greenery includes cast iron plant, greenbriar (real greenbriar lol), and two types of bauhinias.

This garden bouquet is from my friend Helena L. in Danevang, Texas.

She lives on a farm there and we were out for a visit. I kept admiring the flowers and then it dawned on me; how can you have daylilies in August here in South Texas? I couldn't believe it.

These are a very old cultivar that blooms most of the summer.

The electrical cord is going to her pump house.

THREE FOR THURSDAY: 3 TREES WITH FINE, FEATHERY FOLIAGE

Thanks to Cindy at My Corner of Katy for starting the Three for Thursday format. She's on my favorites list, so please go take a look. :-)

The mimosa tree (Albizia julibrissin) has some fantastic foliage. We had some on our farm growing up in the 60s and it's been in America since 1745. It's considered invasive in parts of Texas, so I probably would recommend Desert Willow (Chilopsis linearis) instead. It's really not a very common tree here in Houston. I can think of only 10 or so trees in my part of town. Leaf girdlers and a fusarium wilt make it very short-lived.

I wish we could grow Jacarandas here, but only a few survived the last freeze.

This is the Chinese Rain Tree (Koelreuteria elegans). There are 2 other Koelreuteria species commonly grown in the U.S. This one is the least cold hardy and least common. A freeze in 1983 and 1989 almost wiped them all out. Some people find them too aggressive. In my yard, 3 or 4 have voluntarily come up over the past 5 years. Compare that to the thousands of tree legustrum seedlings I have every year! Not bad.

I love them since I can't grow tree ferns anymore. These are best grown as an understory tree.

Check with a local urban forester to see if they are troublesome in your climate before you plant one.

Ours are kept in check by dry conditions and cold.

This is the pygmy date palm (Phoenix roebelenii). I lost all of mine in last year's freeze. It is

not nearly as cold hardy as some say. I'd say at 28 and below, cover it!

So why did I get some more? Because mine were about 7 feet tall and gorgeous when they died.

They are really beautiful shade tolerant palms and one of the few that have smaller trunks.

Some of the older ones survived down to 21 in parts of Houston, so they do become stronger as they age.

They look best grown in sets of three.

GARDEN TRIALS ~ RESULTS PART 2

With high temperatures and dry conditions foremost on my mind, the plants for this garden trial have had an unfair trial period. I'm used to 90 to 95 with at least a little rain. This August, we've been at 96 to 100 (37C) and hardly a drop for almost 4 weeks solid! We did get .10" of an inch today and saw rain all around us. Yea!
ALL OF THESE PLANTS DID SUPERBLY THIS SUMMER. I WOULD SAY THEY ARE WELL-ADAPTED TO WELL-DRAINED, PARTIALLY SHADY SITES IN ZONE 9A OR ABOVE.

The Silver European Fan Palm has very small leaves and has a spiky look. It will take a year to tell how it fits in.

The Needle Palm is absolutely my surprise of the summer. I had no idea they were so beautiful and lush. They remind me of a fuller version of a lady palm. The leaves are shiny green with a pale underside. They are adapted to very low temperatures, so I'm not worried about freezes for either of these.

Needle Palm ~native to the SE United States

I've already raved about the Black Foot Daisy, so I'll mention the

Pink Muhly Grass. I bought this on sale for a dollar since Lowe's had almost killed it.

Obviously, it is very drought tolerant to survive such neglect. It looks great in contrast to agaves. I can't wait for the bloom spikes this Fall.

It is a Texas native, so it is adapted to our weather extremes.

Agave celsii is my absolute favorite new agave. I was delighted to find it on sale at Wal-Mart!

The Agave stricta is also a beautiful addition to the garden. I have never seen these for sale in Houston, so somebody is finally getting the message that gardeners would like plants that don't need endless watering.

I don't remember the name of this hybrid Coreopsis, but the foliage is outstandingly beautiful for a coreopsis. So far, it has bloomed nonstop in 97 degree weather with no transplant shock. Wow!

I'm guessing this is Zinna 'Prolific'. I went back to buy more, but they had sold all 20 in two days!

I'm not that fond of orange zinnias, but these seem to work well in the dry shady beds.

I'm going try to add about five more to give the area some pizzazz. It too had no transplant shock.

This is what it looks like here after almost 4 weeks without rain. It has rained all around us, but not in my area of Houston. It was 99 degrees when I took this picture. However, the news reported that we will only have a high of 90 on Saturday with possible rain. Yippee. We are on day 27 with barely any rainfall. I've take the garden through 40 days with no rain, but it's not easy.

That's it from Tropical Texana. Hope your garden is under less stress than mine.