Psst, little catapiller, do you want some candy?

Hello, my name is Sheryl, and I have lured a butterfly into my garden. Not only that, but I encouraged eggs to be deposited for the sole purpose of entrapping a young, innocent butterfly child in my back yard. I am unrepentant.

I am thrilled to report that the dozen fennel plants I put in the ground last fall are doing their job. I was hoping that a swallowtail butterfly would lay some eggs on them so I could hatch butterflies in the yard. It worked! I've been inspecting my plants since it warmed up a few weeks ago and discovered the tiniest little creature last weekend. He was barely as long as your fingernail and just a sliver of a little thing. Today he has ballooned into a two-inch behemoth who is munching down on one of my bronze fennel plants. I am hoping that he continues to grow and doesn't end up as lunch.

I've got eggs on other stems, but I think they are too bright yellow to be Swallowtails. I suspect these are from the Gulf Fritillary butterflies that I've also seen hanging around. I really don't care, I'm just honored that my fennel was chosen as a nursery.

I've also scattered dill seeds and have some tropical milkweed starts growing on the patio. I am hoping to lure some Monarchs with these. And then of course there are the citrus trees. There is a particular Swallowtail that loves to eat those leaves and now that I know what they look like I won't pick them off like I did last summer.

I also found a snake today while I was hilling the potatoes. I am not sure what kind it is, but I think it is a Rough Earth Snake, Virginia striatula. It was a tiny little thing and at first I just though it was an earthworm - but he wasn't moving. When I picked it up for a closer look it stopped playing dead and wriggled out of my hand. Lucky for me I'm not afraid of snakes. This particular kind of snake eats slugs, snails and earthworms. It likes to live in leaf litter - which is where I found it, so I've got plenty of habitat!

From a sterile patch of lawn has emerged a neighborhood hangout. To see that all my hard work has not gone unnoticed by the local wildlife is immensely satisfying. Now if I can just figure out what will eat the cockroaches that invade my compost I will be set. Maybe the fire ants will keep them out. Hmm, fire ants as a garden helper? Who knew?

Resurrection of the Citrus Trees

Slowly, slowly, the citrus trees are coming back to life.

My Kaffir lime, the Mexican Key Lime, and the Variegated Eureka Lemon have all put out new leaves. The other lime still has a tiny green area on it's stem and is putting out a leaf. It's near the graft though so I'm not sure if it is the tree I want to be growing.

The banana and Bird of Paradise did not make it, so I've put sunflowers in their pots. I planted Mammoth, Velvet Queen, and Teddy Bear - all sure to cheer me up. The pineapples also died but I've sprouted two new crowns as replacements.

I learned a good lesson here. Just because I am hot and sweaty ten months of the year, doesn't mean that a cold wind from the Pacific Northwest can't come find me. What is frustrating is that I knew better. Those trees weren't cheap and I should have taken better care of them. Instead, I thought I could get away with just having them in the patio enclosure and not having to do anything else. Guess not. I will be prepared next time. I've already figured out how I can rig a cold frame and keep them all under plastic. It won't be the most attractive thing, but I can't afford a retractable awning or other fancy doo-dad.

I am also happy to report that my in-the-ground trees are doing well. The two oranges and Satsuma Mandarin are all blooming and setting fruit. My Meyer Lemon and kumquat are growing their leaves back and should be blossoming soon too.

I am thrilled with my mini citrus orchard. The flowers have the sweetest scent and the leaves are pungent with that citrus tang. They are so much more fun than my other fruit trees. Now if I could just keep the fire ants out of my compost bin - life would be perfect!

You know, I think things ARE bigger in Texas

I've lived in Austin for a year now and there are still a few things that make me pause. Well, not the cockroaches, they make me run for a swatter.

It's mostly the climate; it's just so warm here compared to the Northwest. In the garden I am perpetually lagging the recommended planting dates. (It's just so WRONG to plant squash and sweet corn in March.) If it weren't for my handy chart from the Master Gardeners, I'd never get anything in the ground on time. Here the price to pay for being late is that you don't get a harvest before the summer sun fries everything to dust. I had it easy in the Northwest where the grace periods were much longer.

I'm not complaining. This place is literally exploding with growth right now. Overnight the wildflowers carpet the roadsides with a complete riot of colors. The redbuds erupt into the most exquisite pink clouds only to be rivaled by the white of the Mexican Plums. Butterflies and birds are everywhere. It really is a celebration to spring. Almost makes me want to turn pagan and run naked through the neighborhood.

The vegetable garden is also just amazing. My garlic, onions, Swiss chard, kale, second crop of radishes, beets, spinach - everything has just taken off. I planted the same variety of Oregon Giant Snow Peas that I do every year, and here they really are gigantic.

In Oregon, I was very lucky to have them reach their mature height as stated on the seed packet before they dried up and I had to pull them. Here they are three feet tall and are just now starting to bloom. It's not the soil or any sort of different cultural practice, it's totally due to the warmer nights. I have cabbage planted in the same bed, and I don't know if I am going to be able to get the row cover over my hoops to keep out cabbage moths. Maybe the huge peas will fool them and they will fly off to plague someone else.

And then there is the fruit. How can it be possible that I have bud break on my apple trees and cantaloupe sprouting at the same time? My citrus trees have recovered from the freeze and are blooming now too. I just noticed that one of the oranges has actually set a little tiny orb. Huh? It's like I'm a symphony conductor - all the instruments are playing at once and it's up to me to bring out the music.

My garden and this climate have also changed the way Ed and I eat. We continue to lose weight as we stuff ourselves with vegetables and grilled meats. Our fat and wheat consumption has really plummeted, plus we get out and walk more. We discovered that I now fit into Ed's old jeans and shorts, so I have a much wider selection of gardening clothes than before! Plus, did you know that men's pants have much deeper pockets? We women get short-changed on everything.

Of course, today it is raining and 80 degrees. I went outside and had to gasp for air because it is so steamy. But the plants are happy and therefore, so am I!

Irrigation is installed. Of course it's raining.

I got my drip irrigation installed in the vegetable beds - so of course I was rained on.

Even so, I am very proud of the job I did this time. It's my best installation yet. Luckily I had most of the materials on hand. I brought the black plastic main-line and the soaker hoses with me from Oregon. Unfortunately, they take 5/8" fittings - something you can't find on the shelf at Lowe's. Home Depot had some tees and elbows so I was able to finish the job. Neither place had any in-line shut off valves which means I'll have to order them. Oh, I miss Jerry's in Springfield!

I ran a main line along all the beds, then ran a tee up from the ground. I opted not to use emitters and cut up some soaker hoses instead. I need more coverage than an emitter will give me and I don't want to use a micro-sprayer on the vegetables. Wet foliage invites too much rot. I'll run the drips in the landscaping in front.

A good day in the yard followed by a nice hot bath. Life is good.

Plum Dandy

I bought tomato seeds last year with the intent of starting them in my newly erected greenhouse. They never made it - which is a good thing actually. Had I planted them the same weekend as the celery, I would have had to abandon them for my journey to Austin. Instead, they made it into the moving truck with the rest of my stuff, and came 2,000 miles away for another chance to be fruitful - like me!

I've created my seed bed out of some pots I saved from my Texas Sedge project. I filled them with the same soil I use for the raised beds. They will live in the house until they are big enough to transplant out in the cold frames.

I've planted a few seeds from each of these varieties: Purple Tomatillo - okay, not a tomato but it starts with a "T", Plum Dandy sauce tomato, Sun Gold cherry tomato, Glacier eating tomato, and Taxi, a yellow tomato that is supposed to be great for cooler areas. All except Taxi should do well here in Austin.

Believe it or not, this is the first time I've tried to start seeds in the house. I've never lived in a home that had enough light or space for the project. I've thought about getting or making a grow light contraption, but they just take up too much room. And even if that were solved, the cats would dig everything up. The planets seemed to have aligned for me at last. I have some great indirect light off the deck, and Anna has not been at all interested in the dirt. I've had the flat up on the TV tray for over a week now and she's only given it a passing sniff. Now all I have to worry about is Ed knocking it over on his way to the freezer. I have made them both promise to be good. Wish me luck!

Frozen Assets

We've had quite a week of cold temperatures - and I am embarrassed to say that I wasn't prepared. Me, Miss-I-have-property-in-Alaska and I-can-cut-my-own-wood-thank-you-very-much. We had several nights in the 20's and two in the teens, plus daytime temperatures weren't exactly tropical. I wore socks to bed all week. And while my toes are still perfectly toasty, some of my plants are just plain toast.

Let's start with the walled in patio. The citrus trees are holding their own, but the banana is not happy. My bird of paradise and pineapple are also both a sickly brown. The tropical hibiscus is dropping all of it's leaves in protest. I don't know if they will recover.

Stuff inside the house was affected too. One of our pipes froze - luckily it didn't burst. Ed got it back to normal with some deft blow-dryer work. We moved some of the leaves against the house for insulation and left a faucet running the next night.

Good thing I hadn't spread them all out in the back. For once my procrastination paid off.

The vegetable garden isn't doing well either. My beets, Swiss Chard, and greens were all hit hard. I put a row cover over the greens so maybe some of it can be saved. Luckily I have installed a cold frame where my kale is happily sprouting, so we won't be without green things to eat for long.

Plants in the front yard are hit and miss. My prickly pear cactus pretty much sums it up though. I've never seen a plant look so downtrodden and defeated. Hopefully it will bounce back and grow new pads.




But summer will come. And when it does, I will be ready with my lessons learned and my yard in a better state of preparedness. I'll need a little rest and relaxation by then. Good thing Ed is making Adirondack chairs out of old fence boards. He's nearly done with the first one. Looks amazing doesn't it? The only reason I'm not sitting in it now is because it lacks, well, a seat! Ah, the projects never end. Stay warm everyone and think spring!

Halloween or freezing temperatures? Both are scary!

It kind of looks like Halloween on my street. White sheets are hung all over the place outside. I'm not sure what the homeowner association policy is about public airing of laundry, but I think it's being ignored in favor of saving plants from the cold.

We're having Oregon weather here in Austin! Highs hovering in the 40s and lows in the 20s or 30s. That's great for my newly planted apple trees, but my citrus trees are not happy. I'm pretty sure I've lost one of my orange trees, but I refuse to lose any of the others.

So far they seem to be hanging in there. Ed or I cover them about 4 pm, then he takes the fabric off as soon as the temperature hits 40. The trees are losing some of their leaves but haven't died back at all. I'm using my floating row cover as the insulator. I've got some clear plastic, but don't want to use it. I'm afraid that it will fry the plants as soon as the sun comes out.

My trees aren't the only thing suffering in the cold. Ed can hardly walk because he is wearing so many clothes. We've been eating a lot of soup and he sits bundled up with blankets. We have a fireplace but it is really just for ornamentation. I doubt it draws properly and who needs a smokey AND cold house. I just turn up the thermostat and make my boy some tea.

Wouldn't you know it. I move here to Austin and it's one of the hottest summers on record. Then comes December and it's one of the coldest. I think Mother Nature is telling me that I can take all the Master Gardner training I want, but SHE's the one in charge. Just like a mom to have the last word. :)