Playin' Outside

The winter of 2013 affected my four "orchid trees" in different ways, not surprising as they were different varieties originating in very different climates.  Our native variety,  Bauhinia lunarioides , commonly called an Anacacho Orchid, lost tender branches (about 2 to 3 feet of each limb), but has since fully recovered.   The Bauhinia blakeana,  which produced enormous pink blooms that really did look like orchids, died to the ground.   A fourth, Bauhinia fortificata commonly called the Brazilian Orchid tree, also died.  I had high hopes for my favorite,  Bauhinia mexicana , a tiny shrub with delightful split leaves, as it had survived freezes in other years.  But evidently our pattern of freezes alternating with high heat followed again by late season freezes was just too much -  and it too died.  The "native is better" movement may have gained support here.  Even so, we gardeners probably all have our guilty li...

Funny how the smallest things in nature can give us so much pleasure.  This past weekend I noticed that one of the new metalwork items in my garden had been blessed by the addition of  a line of lacewing eggs.    If you're not familiar with lacewings, click here to see the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension page on this fascinating and welcome garden visitor.  Delicate in appearance, they're fairly voracious and consume a long list of undesirable garden pests.   Fun fact, that little "stick" from which each egg is suspended is likely designed to prevent freshly hatched baby lacewings from eating each other! All material © 2014 by Vicki Blachman for  Playin' Outside .  Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

If you want to get a gardener talking trash in Austin, just bring up the topic of ligustrums.  The botanical name is Ligustrum japonicum , but you may also know it as Japanese privet or Wax-leaf privet.  We just love to hate these highly invasive shrubs!  They easily grow from small plants into tall trees, crowd out local plants, and form dense thickets by developing tasty berries to entice birds to "drop" seeds miles away.   What we don't want to remember is that bees and butterflies (particularly Red Admirals) love their fragrant white flowers and that their trunks can be truly beautiful when pruned and tended. Our yard was home to a fully mature specimen when we purchased the house about 10 years ago, and I've constantly apologized for my ligustrum ever since.  Yes, I tried to be responsible by pruning immediately after it flowered so those little purple berries wouldn't form.  But challenged by how I might quickly replace a tall architectural e...

Garden bloggers attending this year's Fling in the San Francisco area were treated to a reception at the home of artist and garden designer Shirley Watts.  A photo I took that evening of the glossy rose hips forming on a Rosa glauca  later created an opportunity to speak with Shirley on a number of our shared passions.  She's asked me to spread the word about one of them - a Symposium on Natural Discourse to be held October 10, 2013 in Berkeley.   Here's their website for details and tickets: http://www.naturaldiscourse.org/events.html We simply have no idea who a person truly is when we first meet.  A person's reputation or celebrity is simply a costume worn in particular settings, and we're fortunate on rare occasions to truly know one another.  One of my favorite parts of our annual Garden Blogger Flings is knowing a little more, settling a layer deeper, growing real friendships with others.   If you have the opportunity, enrich y...

Thanks to Monarch Watch.org for their beautiful graphic.  Check out their website for information on creating your own "Monarch Waystation." Just a quick note to say that Monarchs are now being sighted in my Austin area garden.  Kidneywood ( Eysenhardtia texana ) and various Asclepias  seemed to be their favorites this morning, but they also flitted without landing among the Gregg's mistflower ( Conoclinium greggii ) during the time I stood transfixed and delighted. Please comment with your location if you're also seeing my favorite little southbound fall transients in your garden.

It seems like building housing for native bees would be a good thing, but it seems I've created some tiny striped monsters.  With so many options available in my garden, they've started to see everything as potential housing. Today I watched a leafcutter bee for thirty minutes as she tried to decide between the holes in an orchid pot and the hole in the handle of my Cobrahead tool.  If you're not wondering how I could stare at a bee for 30 minutes, you're my kind of people.  Look closely at the hole in the blue handle - that's her butt in there.  She must've gone in and out fifty times, trying to envision where to put her things. Can't really see her?  Here's a blurry, but full picture of my little friend. It's not her fault, really.  The old digs were already buzzin' with new tenants and she had to think fast.  That new fancy place with the green bottles may have looked too rich for her taste, and what's a girl to do with k...

Shortly after I first heard about insect hotels, one of my favorite bloggers built one in her "Middle Tennessee" garden.  See Clay and Limestone's Pollinator Condo here .  Inspired by her design, I did what all of us do these days - a Google search - only to find out that those garden crazy Europeans have been wild about insect hotels for years.  There are even national contests in the UK to see who builds the most clever design.  It was clearly time to catch up. Closer to home, my friend Sheryl who blogs at Yard Fanatic has constructed the most amazing tower of insect friendliness.  Her Austin garden is already awe inspiring, but I just had to keep going back to admire her well-researched and beautifully designed insect hotel .  Hers was completed in time to welcome the spring bees, and served as another nudge for me to get my "bee-hind" in gear.  Recently she and Ed spent four sunny Saturday hours helping me cut branches and drill bee sized hole...