What a difference a year makes!

11 years ago

We saw on the news last night that a year ago this was the start of our 40+ days above 100 then a one day break and then 30 some more. This year, hot, humid, thunderstorms, very, very different. Nice from the gardening standpoint but I sure didn't miss the humidity last year!

A few more fun garden things:

Clematis pitcheri

Another native clematis Doesn't look too impressive yet but

anytime I can get a perennial to bloom its first year in the ground I'm happy!

Echinacea tenneseensis

A coneflower native to Tennessee

Eryngium yuccifolium

Rattle snake master

A carrot family plant masquerading as a yucca

Why you need a pair of fake eyes on your rear end!

This is a gray hairstreak whose fake eyes on the back apparently tricked a predator into grabbing the wrong end. Looks like this little guy had a close call

Mrs. B R Cant

She seems to be settling in just fine though I had to pick some caterpillars that were trying to defoliate her. I sent them over to the mutabilis, it would take a million cats to make a dent in that thing

Oenathera triloba

Stemless evening primrose

These are normally done by this time of year but it keeps raining so this one decided to keep blooming

Rudbeckia maxima

Giant coneflower

Now that's a big cone. This bumblebee doesn't seem to care that the petals have already fallen off

Rudbeckia texana

Texas coneflower

This one hasn't bloomed yet but I thought it was worth showing because this is all ONE plant. This is a native of the coastal prairie and only occurs in TX and LA. I can't wait for it to actually bloom, there must be 50 buds on it

Salvia ballotiflora

Shrubby blue sage

This is one of the sages that blooms after rain

Savlia sinaloensis

Biclor sage

I love the fact that you can see the bee landing zones on this one

Tithonia roduntifolia

Mexican sunflower

I grow the species not a named cultivar and it seems to do a lot better for me. Other people complain it gets too big and falls over and like the smaller cultivars better but I usually kill the cultivars and this one does OK. Probably has a lot to do with how much water they get

Comments (4)

rcnaylor
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice pics!

We are still running behind normal on rainfall. A little envious, you know, of those getting it! ha.

But, so much better than last year, I am not complaining. We already have more this year than we got all of last year! And that isn't even counting the heat you mentioned.
Vulture61
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Nice, Teri. What's the name of the silvery-foliage plant where the gray hairstreak is posed on?

Omar
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I enjoy seeing all your many different plants. I love that dainty little pitcher climatis even if the blooms aren't all that big and showy.

I've been meaning to try to grow Tithonia. Did you grow it from seed? Fall or spring planted?
lucas_tx_gw
Original Author
11 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Omar, the silvery thing is one of the Mountain Mints Pyncnantheum muticum. It's very nice and does well in a monrning shade afternoon sun spot which is always hard IMO.

Roselee, I got the original Tithonia at the Texas Discovery Gardens. Last year I had it and one of the cultivars and spider mites really ate up the cultivar and the specied did fine. The ones this year are from seed I collected so I could share seed again this fall. It's a heat lover so I started the seeds in the spring.

I like the little pitcher clematis as well, I just hope next year it has more than three flowers!

RC-as for rain it's been weird. Wet Dec-April, not a drop in May and then random pop-up showers in June. I've been lucky and been underneath several of those pop-ups. Temps are at least 10 degrees lower than last year as well.