HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM TROPICAL TEXANA

Judging from the picture, you'd never guess my garden's gone through the worst drought in the past century. I am thankful for the 3 rainfalls we've had this month and the hopeful  recovery from the drought.

It was a perfect day here in Houston. The sun was warm and the air was cool.

I'm thankful for bromeliads and other plants I can grow outside during November.

I'm thankful that plants come in so many shapes, sizes, and colors!

I'm thankful for our hens!

I'm thankful for the food we have. (This is a from our school project on archeology)

And finally, I'm thankful for all of my gardening friends all over Texas, the United States, and the world. I'm always thankful you stopped by! Here's to that time when we thank God for all of His blessings...Happy Thanksgiving.

David/ :-)

BUGS! HAPPY MACRO MONDAY

Dig those crazy legs. This beetle flew up and landed on me while I was gardening.

I took this photo quickly. I wasn't sure if it was a blister beetle.

Anyone know the name of this beetle?

A grasshopper seems annoyed that I woke him up. He looks like a character in Alice in Wonderland.

The dreaded Agave Weevil hangs precariously on a twig. They've since been eradicated. (I think)

Visit our host, Lisa, at http://lisaschaos.com/ for more.

WELCOME TO DRAGON HOSES ~ AND OTHER Sadly FUNNY GARDEN NAMES

The city of Houston has raised our water rates for the 2nd straight year, a drought the size of TEXAS is raging outside along with millions (?!?) of  acres of wildfire damage across the state, and our poor farmers are suffering untold losses from crops waiting...just waiting for moisture.

How do you deal with hard times? I try to maintain a modicum of humor...plus I pray a lot.

With all of this, I've decided to rename my garden based on the weather conditions. Since I love languages, I've reached into the WORD barrel and come up with these:
 NEW GARDEN NAMES for TROPICAL TEXANA:

GARTEN KAPUTT (German for 'it's all gone!) :when a HARD FREEZE kills all of my tropical plants  
LE JARDIN LATANIER :when I get FLOODS and my garden is a swamp    ( Cajun French for swamp palm garden...by the way that sounds very romantic doesn't it?

DRAGON HOSES  :when I have to water endlessly  (said with a Scottish accent)

LA SECA GRANDE when it's so DRY I can't stand it anymore  (Spanish for THE BIG DRY)

BRUN HAVEN  :and finally, when it's all dead  (Danish for BROWN GARDEN)

Right now I'm still hopeful, so I'm sticking with DRAGON HOSES soon to be LA SECA GRANDE.

DRAGON  (DRAGGIN') HOSES...this week's garden theme

Thanks for stopping by. Share this post with anyone going through gardening difficulties.

David/ :0)

Latest Map from the United States Drought Monitor

http://drought.unl.edu/dm

FASCINATING FERN FOLIAGE AT TROPICAL TEXANA: HAPPY FOLIAGE FOLLOW-UP

With the worst drought in 40 years blazing outside our window, it's hard to imagine ferns growing here and looking good. I used to have so many ferns....and loved every one of them. But as all gardeners know, every plant family has its more durable and more delicate members. The ferns below are the more durable and toughest and can take just about anything our Houston weather throws at them. I try to be water wise, so I must add I DO WATER FERNS. They need a bit each day to carry on and I feel they are well worth it. To conserve water, I have clustered the ferns in 3 or 4 locations and just water those areas more than the rest.

To see more fabulous foliage, please visit our wonderful host, Pam at Digging. She's on my sidebar favorites.

Thelypteris kunthii  or Dryopteris ludoviciana~ both names go with our native Southern wood fern. Critters love to eat it, but it recovers quickly. These are fresh fronds with no damage.

Another view of Southern Wood fern. Transplant it very early in the Spring and it will do fine.

The LBJ website reports that it's good for shade gardens with oppressively hot summers, high humidity, and heavy clay soils. Yep, that's what I've got! LOL

Holly fern ( Cyrtomium falcatum ) is tough. It can even dry out a bit between waterings, but I don't like to take chances. Once a fern dries out, it has to start completely over from rhizomes.

Southern Maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris) growns along the north side of our house next to the water faucet. It gets a splash of water each day or so. It prefers limestone soils and alkaline conditions. This fern is famous since it grows along Texas springs, waterfalls, and Hill Country creeks. It's probably my favorite.

The last of one of my bicolored ferns.

 A small fern in the Boston fern (Nephrolepis) family. It can take drier conditions better than most.

Lace fern (Microlepia strigosa) is easy and quite cold hardy.

Mother fern (Woodwardia orientalis) hangs on for dear life. Each year I think it's dead, but it pops up each Spring like a phoenix.

I also grow Leatherleaf fern (Rumohra adiantiformis) and this works well for Houston.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THE FOLLOWING FOR HOUSTON if the climate continues to stay drier and hotter:

In the past I've grown (and lost) the following:

Australian tree fern

Small tree fern

Australian maidenhair,

button fern

rabbit's foot fern

Bird's nest fern

Autumn fern

Giant staghorn fern (it was magnificent!)

ruffled fern

Boston fern

roundleaf fern

Five fingered maidenhair fern

Resurrection fern

Pteris ferns

and the ever gorgeous Japanese Painted fern. If you are in a moist zone 8 garden area, try it!

Thanks for visiting!

APRIL BLOOMS at TROPICAL TEXANA: HAPPY GBBD!

The front yard is the focus for this month's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. This superlative event is sponsored by Carol at May Dreams Garden. She's on my sidebar favorites, so please go visit! :-)
We've been very dry this past month, but cool. The impatiens are one of the few flowers than can take heat, shade, and Houston humidity. They also take water, so choose wisely. I usually don't keep them past June since they drink heavily...water that is. LOL   A few tropicals are also in bloom this month. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for your gracious comments. David/ :-)

Out of 144 plants, this was the only one with this pattern. I don't recall ever seeing an impatien like this. I'm going to try to take cuttings and keep it alive as a houseplant. I really like it!

Another pretty pattern with that blush of pink and lavender.

Another 'eyed' impatien. I like this one because it is not like the typical solid pink

Another with a pattern.

Cannas are starting to bloom.

One of my Spring blooming bromeliads.

An Aechmea bromeliad in bloom.

The Loop Lawn. The pavers take the viewer in a gentle "S"  to the back of the garden.

Another view of the lawn loops. I really enjoyed making these.

Here's another view of the loop garden. Texas is having the worst drought in 40 years, so it's a miracle the grass is even this green. I'm already tired of watering.

Maybe we'll get rain soon.

David & Melanie, Houston Texas

GARDEN TOUR: The Bromeliad Garden

I've had a request from a dear friend back in my hometown. She wants to see bigger parts of my garden. So, from time to time, I'll post a garden tour.  I'm a  perfectionist so no part of the garden is EVER finished. LOL

I GUESS THE JUNGLE GARDENS OF MADE WIJAYA (island of Bali)  would be the style I'm aiming for. Still, I want it to look like a Texas Tropical Garden, so the elements are mixed.  This is part of the backyard with mostly bromeliads along a path to the winter greenhouse. The fence is too stark for my tastes and will have a row of banana trees hiding it by the summer's end. It's my next project. The tropical garden is still recovering from a severe freeze in February.
 David/ :0)

Our family cat wants to be in on the garden photos!

                                      I like tropical plants. Can you tell?

                          Live oak leaves cover the trails around this part of the back yard. The plastic red pot of basil counts as our annual herb garden. The blue-green yucca is the latest gift from a gardening friend at church. I really like it! The Agave attenuata does not grow well in Houston, but this one seems to be making it.

One of the Chinese fan palms ~ the signature plant of our tropical garden. Mine is a wildlife garden so I keep this on the wild side with lots of places for bird habitats.

This owl marks the entrance to the back garden.

It's the latest edition to the garden ~ a fun gift from my dad.

Thanks dad! :-)

And thanks to all who stopped by to visit. It's nice when someone gives a hoot about gardening.

I'll post another section of the garden soon.

Something NEW for Gardeners to WORRY about: ITCZ

InterTropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ is a shifting area of tropical weather along with its bountiful rainfall. To see it in action, visit this VERY COOL link:
http://daphne.palomar.edu/pdeen/Animations/23_WeatherPat.swf  (Be sure and click all 4 buttons, then the arrow key to activate the map. It's the best animation of this phenomenon I've ever seen!)

That doesn't seem like much to worry about....until you read an article in the latest Scientific American. Research seems to suggest a northward shift of this area during the upcoming century.  This would mean the dry subtropical band above it would also shift from its current location in northern Mexico to places like..uh...here and Arizona. 
I really hope this is not true. Drought is such a horrid thing to gardeners, foresters, farmers, and the wildlife.

In the meantime, I'm glad for the beautiful signs of Spring all around.

Carolina Laurel Cherry now in bloom! :-) David/