Rock Garden Evening

At 6:01 p.m., shadows just creeping up to the edge of the rock garden.

Rainbow After Storm

Big rainbow across the sky tonight after a storm.

Jillie and Wagnon Playing

 

Rock Garden in Late April

April 14, 2024

Red Yucca

Katie Ruellia (Mexican Petunia)

Ice Plant Ocean Sunset 'Orange Glow'

 

 

Ice Plant Ocean Sunset 'Violet'

April 24, 2024 - 'Moonshine' yarrow (right) and Spiny Goldenweed (left) starting to bloom.

Tahoka Daisy

April 27, 2024

 

Cholla Cactus

Moved my cholla cactus into my Texas pot. Mom got the original start of this from Jon who brought a piece back from his trip to Cibolo Creek Ranch years ago, and I got some pieces from her last year.

Autumn Sage 'Lipstick'

Autumn sage by the front door is blooming up a storm!

Extending the Back Yard Lawn

This is year 3 for my new lawn in the back yard. Had a few weeds in the early spring, but I've taken care of those and decided to extend the lawn in the back yard over to the dogs' footpath. 

Section 1: Dug and seeded on 5/21/2023

Section 2: Dug and seeded on 6/4/2023; started seeing sprouts in just under one week.

Roses

Planted these bare-root roses of 4/1/2023

Left to right: Oklahoma, Angel Face (center), Tiffany. I barricaded them with some temporary fencing to keep the dogs from digging them up until they are established!

'Oklahoma' Rose

'Angel Face' Rose

'Tiffany' Rose

5/15/2023: Oklahoma rose (my only bloom so far!)

Yarrow and Larkspur

These pictures are from the front flowerbed where I installed a flower bed last year.

The wild yarrow I dug up at the farm last year when I was home mowing. It appeared to have a very slightly pink blush at the time but this year is fully white. 

The larkspur is from the hummingbird seed mix given to me by a neighbor, and that was REALLY beautiful! The larkspur blooming now sprouted last fall, and there are also some Four O'Clocks just starting to pop up.

We got 1" of rain a couple of days ago so I'm hoping more seeds are about to sprout because I know there are a LOT out there!

Mini Orchid

I picked up this mini orchid on clearance at Walmart for $4 back in mid-April. It was out in full sun and was very dry so the leaves are a bit funky, but it's held onto all of its blooms since I brought it home.

Tonight I put it in a cloche since regulating moisture can be more challenging on mini's. I'm planning to get a pretty plate for it to sit on instead of this plastic drip pan.

Rock Garden Progression

UPDATE: 5/12/2022, Got 1" of rain two days ago.

UPDATE: 4/29/2022

Threadleaf Groundsel is blooming up a storm!

 

ORIGINAL: 4/23/2022

The rock garden was SO PRETTY last year that I'm going to do progression pictures this year so I can see how and when it changes over the season.

This year has been extremely dry and windy so far with no measureable rainfall since August and a dust storm yesterday with gusts over 70 mph. But still... the Threadleaf Groundsel is doing it's thing! Yarrow had some windburn, plus there are two that I recently dug up to share with mom, and they're still in recovery mode.

Threadleaf Groundsel

Spring Update

Threadleaf Groundsel

Pincushion Flower - Pink

Petite Knockout Rose - first bloom

Garlic

'Bridal Wreath' Spiraea

Larkspur

Red Yucca

Red yucca starting to form bloom spikes.

Early Days of Spring!

Did lots of work around the yard today since we're finally having some nice weather without all the WIND!

Planted sedum tiles along the front sidewalk. I bought two and broke them up into pieces. The bright green stuff is blooming! This area tends to be hot and dry in the summer although it is getting more and more shade as the Cedar Elm in the front yard gets bigger.

The flower bed in the front yard... I planted a packet of hummingbird seed mix here last year, and it was really pretty! There are a ton of seeds in here, but nothing much has sprouted with the drought conditions we've been having. The larkspur established last fall and is starting to bloom. Also, the ice plant looks good, and I added in some Grape Hyacinth today.

And the kitties helped me a lot in the front yard today...

In the backyard, I planted 3 Pincushion plants (Scabiosa; two purple, one pink). 

In and around the rock garden...

I transplanted some pink yarrow I got from one of my neighbors:

The Mexican Petunia are starting to sprout:

Threadleaf Groundsel overwintered (surprised!) and is starting to bloom!

Prickly Pear is putting on new growth:

'Moonshine' Yarrow is budding up:

Spiny Goldenweed also survived (also surprised!) and is bushing up:

And Cody helped me in the back yard... overlooking his kingdom!