GARDEN EMOTIONS: TODAY~WAY UP, WAY DOWN

What's a garden if there's no emotional attachment?  If you love a place and its creatures, you can't help but feel both the ups and the downs. Sure, I'm all for the garden being a refuge; a safe place to recharge and contemplate life. I love the garden. But all of you I'm sure have had days when gardening is almost too emotional. I've just been reading a new blog and learning about the wonderful gardener in England who writes it. She had mentioned how the train people decided one day just to cut down all of the mature oaks in the train easement. It was right next to her garden and I'm sure the whole thing was horrific to watch.

So what's my story? Well, it's not about cutting down trees, but let's begin with the PATH to the garbage can.
EMOTIONAL STATE: DOWN

We've had a record number of doves in our feeding area since the weather has turned dry, and I think it's attracted a hawk. I've heard it screeching overhead the last week or so. Today, I found a bird and thought it was dead. It was covered with flies. But to my horror, when I went to pick it up, it opened its eyes! It was really torn up and all I could do was keep the flies away from it. I boxed it up with air holes for breathing and set the box on the back porch. It was a white-winged dove.

I thought about that poor bird the whole time during church this morning. It died later today and I buried it.

I can't lie to you, I had tears in  my eyes when I did all this.

EMOTIONAL STATE: UP

My wife is between jobs right now, so we had to pick up a practice book for some tests she'll be taking.

I went over to the nature section and found this: a 1937 copy of Walden, by Henry David Thoreau!

I've always wanted my own copy of this classic. It was only $7.95. I read the part about weeding the bean field and it reminded me of this:

EMOTiONaL STaTe:  MIXED

I pulled the spent purslane the other day and threw the 'weeds' behind the flower bed. But then I found this one giving its all to bloom just one more time while uprooted and hanging on an agave leaf. What would you do? Of course:

It's now in some good soil with water. The little guy has spunk!

And finally:

EMOTIONAL STATE: WAY UP!!!

I've been trying to take a crisp picture of this little blue dragonfly for days now. I probably have snapped 20 blurry pictures. He's very quick and wary of humans with cameras.

But today I finally succeeded.  All in all, I count my blessings to have a place to call my own.

That's it for today from Tropcial Texana.

Who needs a roller coaster, just garden! :-)

FLORA, FAUNA, AND FATE

TOM'S DEMOLITION ~ BEST PRICES IN TOWN

I tried to work out in the front yard this morning, but was too upset. Why? Like the scene with the bulldozers in the movie 'Avatar', the same is happening to the bungalows in my neighborhood.

Bungalow Bashing

The crunching and grinding go on for an entire day. Imagine how unsettling

this would be in your neighborhood.  I always hope the guys have a very

ACCURATE map before they pick out the house. A new McMansion will be

up in a month. Such is progress. (That was the FATE part of the title)

FLORA

These are NOT cute ferns. These are cute pests. I'm posting this for Cindy

at My Corner of Katy. Did you know there are two kinds of this weed?

The common one is over in the lower left. I have the pleasure of having the

long-stalked version as well. It's not quite as bad as the short one, but it's still double trouble.

FAUNA

 One of the reasons I keep the garden

natural (no poisons) is for the wildlife.

We have a cardinal family now

and junior is getting a snack from

good 'ol dad. I never realized how

attentative the male cardinal is to

the young. In fact, mom flew away

when she saw me in the window,

but dad ignored me for good reason.

Flora, fauna, and fate at Tropical Texana.

:-)

OH BOY! TIME TO MOW

This is my third year to use a REEL mower. When I mow, it is quiet enough to hear the birds singing. Plus, it really isn't any harder to push than my other mowers. I hate the smell of gasoline (the red thing is empty), and I was getting tired of the cord on my last two electric mowers. It was a bit of trouble to even describe over the phone what kind of mower I wanted. I had heard that one place in Houston carried them...an ACE hardware store on Ailrine Drive. Sure enough, the guy was able to order one from OHIO that arrived in a week. These new models have precision blades and are lightweight. I remember my Grandpa had two made of cast iron and they were the dickens to push. He also had an acre of land and two gas mowers.
During today's mow, I had to move a log and saw a swift jump in the bushes. One of the green anoles had found moth on today's menu, so I grabbed my camera. I would have missed all this with the noise of a gas mower. Reward enough here at Tropical Texana.

Nothing like a good moth!

BACK HOME FROM A TRIP!

It's nice to be back home.

Our family arrived back late due to some extra sightseeing in Fredericksburg, TX.

It's always strange to get back to your garden at night after being away for a time.

I was the last inside after unloading our car and stopped to look up at the full moon.

It was a very quiet night when suddenly I heard a screech owl close by. Next came a tiny squeeeeck, then all was silent. Nature is close by in this garden and goes on just fine without me.

This, by the way, is a mother screech owl that has 3 very cute babies. I got a glimpse of them last week and even tried to take a picture. It was impossible, so I just enjoyed watching them.

Such is life at Tropical Texana.

WHERE'S WALDO...UH I MEAN WHERE'S ANOLE?

The baby anole lizards are out and about here at Tropical Texana. Can you find him?

To read more about these little guys, visit Jackie's garden site and see her wonderful photo article on...Southern Post Journal.

It's on my sidebar favorites.

New to the Garden: Cleome hassleriana

What an exotic, tropical looking flower for your sunny garden! I'm trying out a few annuals that 'reseed readily' and one of these is Cleome. It's native to Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and SE Brazil. People swear  it is 'easy to grow'. Ever heard that before? Some even say it becomes a weed. What a beautiful problem. It likes to wilt during the hot part of the day, but seems to recover with a tad bit of water. It likes well-drained soil, so I'll put it behind my agave bed in half day sun.  So far, any plant that can be transplanted in JULY is my kind of flower. My pet baby grasshopper, Ralph, likes the leaves. Ralph is pictured on the white flower below. As long as Ralph doesn't invite a few hundred friends, he can stay.

Hunting for Hunters

When a gardener decides to go without poisons and purely with organic methods, one immediately wonders how the pests will be controlled. Here are pictures of several of my helpers. If you are a bug, you might think twice about eating here at Tropical Texana. Pictured are a Spring Peeper (frog), a common toad, and in the water, a dragonfly nymph.