Wordless Wednesday

The hummers are passing through

Attracting visitors to your garden is one of the biggest benefits of gardening! There is much information out there that can guide you in specifically what to plant in order to attract a particular bird or animal. These hummingbirds have been entertaining us with their aerial acrobatics. At times, a dozen or more will be hovering on and around one individual feeder. They've been going through 2 or 3 cups of nectar each day - so I don't have to worry about the feed spoiling in the hot sun! Currently, we have two species hanging around the garden: ruby throated hummingbirds, which are just moving through, and and the much larger buff bellied hummingbird, which will nest in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Hummingbirds feed heavily on sugar water or nectar in a feeder - but you'll need some flowers to attract them to your garden in the first place. This one is feeding on Jatropha integerrima. Generally anything that the butterflies like, the hummingbirds will like. They are attracted to red flowers - which is why most feeders and some brands of nectar are red. Since I have read that the red dye is not good for these small birds, I always use a clear hummingbird feed or make a simple sugar mixture. My favorite brand of hummingbird food is "Best" - it dissolves easily in warm water and the hummers seem to love it!
A male ruby throated hummingbird feeds on an African Iris bloom.

Did you know that a hummingbird will beat his wings 80 times a minute? No wonder they need to stop and rest every so often? I do love to watch them hover, dive, and fly straight up or back. What little wonders they are!

These little guys can provide hours of entertainment!

The Mutual Admiration Club and My Picks for the Excellent Blog Award

I am honored that Meems from Hoe and Shovel passed along the Excellent Blog Award to Cultivating Paradise. The fact that Hoe and Shovel is one of my absolute favorite gardening blogs makes this even bigger for me. Shortly after joining Blotanical, I began reading Meems' blog. It became an instant favorite of mine. Her pictures are stunningly beautiful and I love her layout - She includes some cool stuff on the sidebar (is that what its called?), such as info and links for places to visit in her neck of the woods and a column of pictures showing what is blooming in her garden that month.

There are rules for passing along the E award: By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you agree to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Blog Award worthy. Needless to say, Hoe and Shovel would have been at the top of my list - but there is no shortage of excellent garden blogs floating around cyberspace, so here goes.


First off, I must commend Pam of Digging ; hers was the first blog I read on a regular basis and she inspired me to create Cultivating Paradise. I found her blog when I was searching for info about gardening in Austin. She's got great pictures and lots of great ideas. She is the Diva of Texas Garden Bloggers.

Next is a blog that I have only recently discovered. David Perry of A Photographers Garden Blog is a real jewel. Great writing - sometimes about gardening, sometimes about photography, sometimes about random, yet interesting or entertaining stuff - and GREAT pictures (duh!)

And now for the rest of my list (in no particular order) - these men and women make me laugh, make me cry, inspire me with what they create, educate me, and entertain me. They may be surprised that I am passing this award on to them because I am often a silent fan. (But I'm trying to find a little extra computer time to leave comments on my regular reads.)

BVDB from Playin' Outside in Central Texas
Vertie at Vert in the Austin, Texas area -
Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings in Oklahoma
Seeds, an Austin Gardening Journal
Lee at The Grackle, Austin
Jane Marie at Thyme for Herbs, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sharon at My Chutney Garden, the Carribean
Carol at May Dreams Gardens, Indiana

Thanks for sharing your gifts with us all!

April GBBD Addendum

How could I have omitted this gorgeous Frangipani, Plumeria obtusa, from my April Garden Bloggers Bloom Day post! Just look at her! The bright yellow throat fades into a creamy white petal. The blossom colors contrast nicely with the dark green of the leaves. This is the flower used to make Hawaiian leis. As a cut flower, Frangipani’s aroma fills the room. Place the flower cluster in a vase or float it in a glass bowl. I’m never sure how to handle its milky sap, but usually burn the cut end before placing it in water.

When this deciduous tropical tree is grown from seed, it will take three years or more to bloom. The seeds will cross-pollinate, so you aren’t guaranteed that the seed you collected from one specimen will bloom like it did. This is a long time to invest in a plant and not know if it will fit well in your landscape.

The dark purple-black growth that looks much like a thin eggplant is a Frangipani seedpod.

I have a few Frangipani volunteers growing in one bed right now, but had not seen the split seed pod before now. It looks more like a sculpture than seeds!

Due to the length to flower and cross-pollination of its seeds, I think this plant is best propagated from cuttings. The “cloned” plant bloom exactly like the parent. As I mentioned earlier, Frangipani has milky white sap. Allow at least a week for the cut end to dry before you plant it in dirt. Don't worry if you get busy or forget about it, the cutting will last a long, long time. Today I sent my daughter home to Austin with a couple of stems that have been scarring over since last fall.

April's Garden Blogger Bloom Day

This hedge of Bottlebrush (Callistemon rigidus or is it Callistemon viminalis, the weeping variety) has really come into it's own this spring! If I was a hummingbird, this is where I'd want to hang out - and they are! One gallon pots were planted just four years ago. And since I was anxious for a hedge, I made the mistake of planting them a litte too thick - but it's working for now! I wrote this post yesterday at work and rushed home to get a shot of our stunning bottlebrush hedge - you can imagine how disappointed I was to find that our near hurricane force winds (don't know if they were - but they sure felt like it to me!) had blown the blooms out! These pictures are from the more protected side - but they still look a bit weather-weary. Happily there were buff-belly and ruby throated hummingbirds galore!

Just when I thought my Yucca or Spanish Dagger, Yucca treculeana, would never bloom, it came through! It has been a full month since I've notice the Yucca all around the Rio Grande Valley in bloom. Yucca is native to the area and not too picky about it's surroundings. It grows in full sun or partial shade and is happy in any type soil - as long as it is well drained. Mine is in a wetter area than it prefers, but it was growing there when we built our home and I'll bet it's there when we're gone . . . If you plant one in your landscape, remember that with water, it will spread into a pretty large specimen. Mine has got to be 8-10 feet from side to side. This is the mockingbirds favorite place to perch and serenade us!

I cut off one of the blooms for the picnic table. Although it looks very delicate, it each petal is pretty thick and waxy. There are very pale greens and yellows that are too pretty for words. I have always thought that the yucca bloom was edible - but upon reading a little bit more, I think maybe it's the yucca fruit that is eaten. But that's for another post. We're all about blooms today!

My small bed of daylilies have begun blooming! Since we have to transplant them in a week or two, I'm thrilled that we get to enjoy their beauty for a while.

We call this Pato de Chiva or Clavo de Chiva. The name means goat's foot or goat's hoof. For a few years now, I've tried to see a goat's hoof in this bloom. Can you see where I should have been looking? Right! The leaves! A perfect little goat's hoof.

This is a bushy tree that can be trimmed up to a more definite tree form. I've been letting mine do what it wants lately and the bees and butterflies both are glad to have the extra blooms. There is a pinkish tinge in the blooms that my picture didn't capture very well. This is not native to the Valley but is well naturalized here. It's a wonderful butterfly and hummingbird attractant.

May Dreams Gardens: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2008

May Dreams Gardens: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2008

So, just what is the etiquette for picking up bags of leaves on the side of the road?

I'd been noticing lots and lots of full lawn & leaf bags set by the curb in neighborhoods all over town. Now, I have a yard full of trees - but they have never produced as many leaves as I need for the vegetable garden, flower beds, and compost bin. These bagged treasures were going to be wasted, so I felt it my duty to schedule a little leaf run. Early on the designated day, I ran into one of my daughters and then a sister-in-law, both of whom inquired about my morning plans. I could hardly contain my excitement about the upcoming leaf run. Much to my surprise, they each asked, "Do they know you're coming?" To be perfectly truthful, at that time I had no idea which households I would relieve of their "garbage". I'm a bit of an impulse stop and loader. But, what a coincidence their question was! Or was it? They got me thinking, "What is the etiquette to picking up other people's discarded bags of leaves?" Do you call ahead? Do you call from the curb? Or do you just snatch and dash? My husband's funny about stopping so I can load someone else's "trash" into the back of the car. He once drove right past 4 or 5 bags of mulch just laying in the middle of a country road! By the time I dropped him off at home and returned, someone else had picked it up. Even though I don't hide the fact that I "steal" other people's garbage, I must admit that I don't really want anyone to see me doing it. Leaf runs are always scheduled for the quiet times - never on a week-end and never after school is out. As long as I'm confessing, I also never pick up bags from a busy street. Is this leaf fetish unique to me - or do some of you share it? I'll look forward to hearing from you!

An Aphid Invasion!

The aphids are coming!

The aphids are coming!

I'm afraid that this warning is a bit late for this stand of Hamelia patens or Firebush. About a half of the individual plants are already affected to one degree or another. One is already completely defoliated and the others are all a flitter with insect activity. Notice the shine from the honeydew on this plant - Add the cupping of the new growth and you can be pretty certain you have a healthy community of aphids.

On a side note, I want to share with you the first aphid treatment I ever read about (and this was my practice for years!). Treatment consisted of a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol. It works well, but it would take hours of time and gallons of rubbing alcohol for this infestation. Of course, this treatment was described in a book about houseplants. . . .

Pictured above is one of the Hamelia paten (Firebush) that has not been affected yet. I was a little unconvinced when my husband suggested that we just leave this planting alone and let nature take its course. He even opined that this could be good as it would attract lots of beneficials to our yard. Although he has farmed for over 30 years, I wasn't convinced and did a bit of research on my own. In his article, Aphids in Texas Landscapes, Bastiaan M. Drees from Texas A & M concurs.

There are many different kinds of aphids and most entomologists will tell you that identifying your pest exactly is not important. Notice the yellow aphids on this firebush. If you look closely you can see some white skins. Aphids molt about 4 times on their journey from larvae to adult stage.

To further prove his point, my hubby took me outside to check for beneficials. This orange ladybug was the first we saw. She was moving so fast that I had a hard time getting a good picture. I guess when you have this number of aphids to devour you have no time to waste!

There are about 500 different Ladybug species in the United States and almost 5,000 worldwide! They come in a variety of colors (Reds, yellows, orange, gray, black, brown and even pink) with and without dots.

Check out the spreading wings on this ladybug. She must be ready to fly off to a new - and more bountiful - plant. A ladybug egg hatches somewhere between 4 and 10 days. But the "baby" is not exactly a miniature of the adult.

The above bug is a ladybug larvae, often refered to as an alligator. The close-up picture below depicts just how descriptive the name "alligator" is.

The presence of alligators is a good sign that we are well on the way to controlling our aphid infestation. It means that we have multiple generations of beneficials in our garden. This alligator is so much duller than the others. I wonder if it is molting. It has the same markings as the vibrantly colored one above. The Ladybug Lady shares larvae and adult pictures that show various ladybug species.

My husband pointed out this white fuzzy beneficial. He couldn't give me a name for it but assured me this is a good guy! Looking at this plant might make you think you need to take some action. But look a bit closer. Most of the markings are molted skins. To treat at this point would kill your garden beneficials.

Could this bug have been inspiration for the set designer of The Matrix? Up close, he does look pretty vicious!

Happy gardening from my little biology lab to yours!

A Tropical Treasure

A South American native, Bougainvillea puts on quite a show for months on end. I have always loved the many colors of this particular specimen. The dark salmon bracts fade to pale pink as they age. After much looking, I can't decide which variety I think it is . My best two guesses are Bougainvillea Buttiana 'Temple Fire' or Bougainvillea 'Rosenka'. If I had to choose the most descriptive name, it would definitely be 'Temple Fire'.

When I purchased this particular plant it was viney and trained to a small trellis. In the past five years, I have come to see that it's natural form is actually bushy and smallish (small for a bougainvillea, that is).

Bougainvillea is propogated by stem cuttings taken in the winter or spring. It blooms on new growth so feel free to trim away after a flush of blooms. Hardy to 25 degrees, bougainvillea is a great choice in Deep South Texas.