MORNING [AD]VENTURE

This morning, in between making salads for a pseudo catering gig, I ventured outside with the camera as the early sun started washing over the blossoms and plants in the myriad of native perennial gardens. Had I thought faster  more time, I would have used the macro lens to get real close-ups of the flowers. But alas, being pressed for time, I grabbed the camera with the lens which stays mounted 99% of the time and started shooting.

Gerbera Daisy.... annual.... grown in a pot under the gazebo.

Standing Cypress.... wildflower perennial..... very tall. Attracts hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees.

Indian Blanket and Lemon Horsemint .... wildflowers.... butterflies love these!

Hundreds and hundreds of Indian Blanket wildflowers. My goal is to create a "pocket prairie" featuring the native wildflowers indigenous to the Blackland Prairie of this region. Before urbanization, this Blackland Prairie supported many wildflowers which existed on nothing more than the water received from the rains.... even in years of drought. My kind of flowers!

One of the many milkweed varieties necessary to the existence of Monarch butterflies. As urban sprawl takes over the natural prairies and habitats, the population of Monarch butterflies is dwindling dramatically. Native plant societies are spreading the word to gardeners to include these plants in the landscape before the monarch becomes extinct. The second plant shows some of the milkweed pods maturing after the spring flowering.

Lemon Horsemint again. This has multiplied and spread very quickly and easily. Other common names for this same wildflower are: Lemon Beebalm, purple horsemint, lemon mint, Plains horsemint, horsemint, and purple lemon horsemint.

Trumpet vine.... also called trumpet creeper. I am trying to train this to grow over a nearby arbor. The hummingbirds and butterflies love this plant.

These are very tiny.... nearly a groundcover.

Apricot agastache.... another favorite of hummers

Salvia .... there are tens (if not hundreds) of varieties of salvia.

Golden columbine... almost the end of their blooming cycle.

Texas Rock Rose....

Brakelights red yucca..... (more of a true red than the usual salmon colored "red yucca")

Red Yucca....

Another variety of salvia.... also called autumn sage... comes in white, pink/salmon, purple, red

More salvia... also called mealy sage

Behind the windchimes are the Standing Cypress. Some are taller than me!

This is an ornamental clump grass (annual) that I couldn't resist... it is called Fiber Optic grass.

To date, all the perennial and wildflower additions have been to my backyard. It is my personal sanctuary. I really need to get busy with the front yard, too. However, my vision always far exceeds my budget.

I can't believe JUNE starts tomorrow! Spring is behind us and now the long, dragging, HOT months of summer are here. Most gardening will come to a halt other than the harvest of ripening veggies. Autumn will bring renewed energy to work outside.... once the heat abates.

Until the next adventure.... local or otherwise......

A LITTLE OF THIS.... A LITTLE OF THAT

I've done a great deal more work in the gardens since the last post. I also had the opportunity to meet with a group of vintage sewing machine aficionados for a day of drooling over some of the sweetest antique machines I've had the fortune to see!

Here are some of the machines. I particularly was captivated by the various decals. I am a complete amateur at recognizing the various models and dating them, but I still find them beautiful. The group is officially for treadlers and hand-crankers.

Other than coveting a hand-crank machine to make my collection complete, I am never going to be like some of the group members. A few of them literally have tens of machines! True collectors. In the first place, I don't have room for more than the few I currently own.

The garden continues to take shape.... one morning the dew was particularly heavy and I captured photos of the unique beauty.

 Morning flowers are the best! Some of the areas I've been focusing my attention....

This is a milkweed plant. I am trying to attract monarch butterflies before they become extinct! (lousy cell photo)

And the highlight of my week.... I know the owl visits the bird bath at dusk each evening, particularly now that the days are getting so warm. I try to go outside to get a prime bird-watching spot well in advance of his (her?) arrival. Last night the visit was earlier than normal; light enough to capture a fairly decent photo despite the cellphone camera being the only handy device.

Knowing the owl can arrive earlier than expected, tonight I headed to the patio before the usual time. He didn't visit as early as last night, but I listened to him call from the trees for about 20 - 30 minutes. It's unusual for the owl to stay put for such an extended period, so I decided to walk toward the calls, hoping I could figure out where it was sitting. It was sitting in the opening of the owl box!!! I was shocked. Other than the week in late March when I spied the owl in the box right after it had been installed, I'd not seen the owl in the box since. I figured the box had been erected too late in the nesting season and had been abandoned when a mate wasn't found. But there he was tonight! Leads me to believe he's been using the box all along. I've read they are masters at staying hidden even when one is purposely looking for them in their natural habitats. This discovery was one of the best of the week.

Until I have more to share.....