Conflicting Reports

Everything seems to be "off" this year weather- and garden-wise, in one way or another.

I saw a hummingbird today - the earliest ever - yet the juncos are still here. Some of my Louisiana irises are swelling with buds...at the same time as their usually-earlier German bearded and Siberian iris cousins are blooming.

Nearly all of the tomatoes planted at the Community Garden perished in sub-zero, wind-whipped temperatures last week. Because of the presence of the aforementioned juncos, I continued to hold off on planting my half dozen or so tomato plants, and am trying not to be smug about my foresight. But watching the birds was something my mother taught me from a very young age; our feathered friends possess a sixth sense about weather conditions that we do not. At least, the winter birds have it, anyway. I'm not sure what that crazy hummingbird is doing here already.

Anyway, lots of plant orders are trickling in. I don't consider myself old enough to be even close to senile, but I can never seem to remember/envision what I ordered from these companies when they get around to finally shipping the order to me. I save invoices, make notes, etc., but by gosh I still find myself tearing open boxes like a kid at Christmas because I truly don't know exactly what's inside. A Salvia Pachyphylia 'Blue Flame'? Great! Thanks! (What the heck does that look like??)

I am expecting a 10 lb. box from Bluestone Perennials tomorrow. Ten pounds of plants sounds like a lot to me...! So I guess I know what I'll be doing this weekend. Besides that order, I have six Agastaches and Salvias from High Country Gardens to plant, plus two daylilies and 30(!) Gladiolus bulbs from Dutch Gardens that need to taste soil pretty quick.

And, in what must have been a lustful tropical plant haze, I also ordered several plants from Logee's, including one of those incredible-looking Diamond Head purple elephant ears. Not sure when that order will arrive. I'm trying my hand with a more common red Passiflora (other than Margaret, which didn't do well for me in the past for some reason) plus another round of Tarnok Sarrencia for the water barrel garden and a 'Chad' hibiscus just because it was stupifying.

Call me a multitasker, but I'm also managing several vegetable projects around the backyard. I have two new 3' x 3' beds by the driveway which now host radishes, peas, carrots and beets, and a couple of half whiskey barrels around the pool area with cabbage, bok choi and radicchio. All of these are doing well; the squirrels and/or rabbits are keeping their chewing to a minimum. I've planted nasturtiums around the containerized plants and the marauding rodents seem to be repelled by it. Amazing.

So there's a nice big, fat update about what's been going on with me in the outdoors arena. Spring might be here around Dallas...we're still not sure. But one thing is certain: I'm ready to plant!

Gustav On the Way

It's inevitable that DFW will see some much-needed rain from Hurricane Gustav in a couple of days. As I write this, my beloved New Orleans seems to be hanging in there, and that's great news.

Speaking of weather, I really wonder what kind of winter we're going to have here in North Central Texas. One Farmer's Almanac is predicting slightly colder and drier than usual, while NOAA says the opposite.

All I know is, a red-bellied woodpecker and a pair of chickadees have already shown up at my bird feeders.

The Heat Is On

June has definitely brought summer to North Central Texas, along with lots of wind. The last week has seen my crank-out patio awning tucked safely away due to continuous gustiness. The wind doesn't seem to stop me from cooking steaks on the charcoal grill, however, albiet cautiously. Strangely we've not been under wind advisories.

Some spider-related news: I always try to park in the furthest of our uncovered parking lots at work. The five minute slightly uphill stroll is usually a pleasant way to start the day. But imagine my surprise yesterday when I stepped out of my vehicle and was confronted by one of these. He was really quite large, leggy and beautiful; unfortunately the photo I took with my phone-cam was pretty crappy. No one else was around to see him and I was glad, as most people's reflex would have been to stomp on him.

The Front Yard No-Grass Garden Project looks better every year. One of these days I'll have the whole thing filled in. I was pleased that the Bear's Breeches decided to finally bloom this year, after three seasons of patient waiting.





Our 12-year-old collie Alf had a seizure the other night and I fear his days are numbered. He still seems to have the energy to go digging and skulking behind the sumac shrub in the back corner of our yard, pretending he's a jungle dog, however.

Everything's Late

We had a REALLY late freeze a couple of nights ago. Four nights before that...tornadoes. Very scary, but we were lucky. Didn't even lose power at our house. Many people lost much more, although the tornadoes that hit Dallas didn't register any higher than F1s. Winds were clocked at around 90 mph in some areas. I can't imagine what an F5 would do.

The storm made a great case for not planting Bradford Pear trees. Most of the down trees and limbs around town are Bradfords, a notably fragile tree. We have four mid-sized trees in our front yard: a 40' lacebark elm, a 30' Chinese pistache, a 30' magnolia and 25' Mexican plum, and they all did fine, although it was frightening for me to peek out between the blinds and see them bending sideways in the wind. Yeesh.

Anyway, moving along to the flowers now in bloom for April's Gardening Bloggers Bloom Day, for which I am also, and again, late...


Allium Schubertii

Brunnera 'Jack Frost'

Chives

Clematis 'Crystal Fountain'

Iris and Viburnum

Viburnum

Japanese Maple 'Matsugae'


Yarrow


Many of my Louisiana irises are budding and just about to burst open, so more pictures are forthcoming. My regular bearded irises are budding too. This is somewhat of a surprise to me since I divided and replanted (all 65 of) them this year, and really expected a reduced show. But hey, Mother Nature sometimes has other plans.

The Collin County Master Gardener plant sale is this Saturday. In addition to the fun of working the sale, I love shopping at it too - so many big, healthy plants at great prices. I'm hoping to score another Satsuma orange tree (but not kill it like I did the last one...)

I'm also expecting my shipment to come in from Garden Crossings. So...guess what I'll be doing on Sunday? What I love most: working in the garden!

Kinda Purty

Ok, so, by Northern U.S. standards, it was a fairly pathetic dusting of snow that "crippled" the DFW metroplex last night. The snowfall was very pretty to watch as it came down, though.

I was worried about my lettuce sprouts in a container on the patio, but they seem to have bounced right back after the snow melted today.