Sunflowers Announcing Autumn

At least, the few that remain.

Earlier this week, txrad purged the yard of most sunflowers. The entire backyard was full of them and by now they would all be in bloom. However, it was a necessary procedure as they are horrendous to clear out after they die off leaving hard woody stalks behind.

A few weeks ago I took one of those Family Feudish quizzes on Facebook. One of the questions was, "Name a sport that is played in summer," and I incorrectly answered football.

Chalk that one up to my geographic upbringing and current locale. Well, actually it is partially true as I pointed out in Facebook comments. Summer doesn't officially end until mid-September and football season starts beforehand. So I was essentially correct.

But here in Texas it can feel like summer well into fall. It is not until the wild sunflowers bloom in our yard that I start to realize summer is ending and a change in seasons is forthcoming.

Soon we'll have our first cold front of the season blast through here which will bring daytime temperatures down into the 40s. November will roll around, mid-term elections will provide a brief distraction from the upcoming frenzy of holiday activity, and before you know it, we'll be making those damned New Year's resolutions again.

Three months from today we'll be well into January, 2011. But for now, I can focus on the stillness of time from the sunflowers, enjoying their swaying in the gentle afternoon October breeze.

The few that remain.

The Mowing

The overdue mowing has finally begun. It's been about 2 years at least since I have mowed any of the yard out front. I think it was summer of 2008 when I started having troubles with the mower and never could get it running. I gave up in the fall and winter. In April and May of 2009 I tried again, with the help of my neighbors. We got things disassembled after realizing that fuel wasn't flowing to the engine, and assumed it was the fuel pump so we got that removed. (I say "we" but it was "they." I watched though!)

The local John Deere dealer didn't have any in stock so we had to wait about a week. By that time it was late May, early June, and the weather was not conducive to outside mechanical work. Couple that with the fact that I am not the least bit mechanically inclined and it's not hard to understand why I blew it off for another summer and into the winter and spring.

Finally, I decided to call the local mower maintenance guy to come by and put Humpty Dumpty back together again. He determined that the problem was the fuel hose which had begun decomposing. Got that replaced and got the fuel pump put back on, and all was well... except for the battery.

After unsuccessfully trying to charge it for a couple of days late this week I went out and bought a new one this morning. Got the mower started and proceeded to drive out to the front yard and mow. Then I couldn't get the mower blades to start up.

I drove back out to the street and around to our garage to troubleshoot. After cursing the mower for the 1,734th time, I realized there was a shift lever behind the steering wheel which engages the blades! It's been so long since I've been able to mow I forgot how to use the thing!

Oh, heavenly bliss. I still have some trimming up to do but it's a huge improvement.

The front yard had become a wildlife habitat and I stirred up a nest of bunnies. I had to mow very slowly to give them all time to hop to safety. They are very young so they don't run very fast.

There is also a big section off in the distance which still needs to be mowed. I always have to be careful in that area because there are some huge rocks to mow around.

I only mowed a trail out to the street so you can get a sense of before and after. I am thrilled to be able to get back on this project after much too long. Plus it feels great to do something genuinely productive rather than sitting in the air-conditioned house playing around on Facebook.

Fried Avocados and Nature

We decided to try a couple of new things today. First, we went to Torchy's Taco in south Austin for a fried avocado taco which was truly sublimely delicious.

Fried Avocado Taco
Hand battered fresh avocadoes fried and served with vegetarian refried beans, lettuce, pico de gallo and cheese served on a corn tortilla with our poblano ranch sauce.

I will go back but it will require some strategic planning to avoid the crowds. It's well worth the effort though.

It's a small joint and we weren't sure any tables would open up by the time our food was ready so we ordered to go. We did get a table though. $3.50 seems steep for an order of chips and salsa, but both are made fresh on site, and the salsa was splendid. The taco was only $3.25 and coupled with the abundance of chips & salsa, it was ample for my lunch.

After that we went to the nearby Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center which offers free admittance in January, and for good reason since there are no flowers in bloom this time of year.

The organization, we learned, was started by Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes in 1982, to protect and preserve North America's natives plants. The gardens, which are quite extensive, feature native plants of Texas, particularly the Texas Hill Country.

Despite the fact that we've lived here over 12 years, and the center is less than seven miles from our house, this was our first visit! Even though I wasn't expecting to see much in January, it was a nice outing. Many of the plants we also have in our yard, but I was also hoping to walk away with some landscaping ideas and inspiration.

There was a nice water feature on the left as we approached the garden courtyard.

There were some cute and friendly turtles in the pond.

The courtyard itself has various garden areas staged to showcase certain categories and themes.

I was amused by the aptly-named Horse Crippler cactus. Ouch!

I liked the spiny hedgehog cactus.

The sotol was stunning.

This agave was quite nice.

There were a number of beautiful streams throughout the grounds.

I didn't know there was a little tower on the grounds. Sheldon had to look for it and I'm glad he did. The climb to the top was short and the views were spectacular.

Looking north toward downtown Austin. The skyline is barely visible.

I had to use my zoom to really get a shot of downtown, or part of it at least. Most of the buildings are obstructed by hills.

A view in another direction. A cold front is passing through today so it was a tad blustery at the top of the tower!

Two hours after leaving home we were back home, but it felt like a little relaxing vacation getaway.

Monday Midweek Garden Blog

I normally do the gardening/landscape blog on Mondays, and here it is Wednesday already. Between the home improvements (updated today at Black Soap) and the job interview, this is a crazy week.

All photographs by txrad and he wants you to guess which plant isn't a native here in Texas. He's being funny, but if you seriously don't know, then you need to get more in touch with your flora and fauna.

Indian Blanket out by the garden fence.



A yellow cactus blossom.



Wild Lantana. (Well, none that we planted.)



Little green tomatoes on the vine.



A lonely Wine Cup with some Brown-Eyed Susans.

That's all. Normalcy will return tomorrow.

Exterior Motives

This is my next project. I need something outside the house for a change. I've tried to turn this into something very attractive for the past 10 years and basically the only thing that grows well here are salvias, lantana, and poison oak....and unless its maintained regularly, grass grows well, as you can see.

The annoying poison oak keeps coming from under the concrete walk so I'm not sure how to eradicate that nuisance.





I'm thinking of two options, either a rock garden with cactus and succulents which are winter hardy, or amend the soil and maybe try growing some veggies and herbs. A variety of chili peppers would add some color. I'm leaning towards the latter option.

I'll update this post and move it to the top with new photos once I get started.

And I'd like to get started on Monday since I'm staying home from work.

Monday Garden Blog

It's time for...

I suspended my Monday Garden Blog during much of the summer since there hasn't been much garden activity since late June or early July. txrad decided he'd go clear the grass and weeds from one of the beds Sunday morning. In the afternoon he decided he'd plant a row or two of collards for me. Sweet boy. I have to force him to eat them. I'll never understand why anyone doesn't think they are a gift from the gods, when picked at the right time and cooked in the correct way. txrad keeps a gardening diary and he noticed last year he planted collards on October 13.

These will be suitable for eating after the first frost which for us will probably be late November or early December, and we'll continue to enjoy them well into early spring. Just before they produce blossoms and seeds, I'll have a marathon picking, blanching and freezing session. After they go to seed, the taste goes to hell.

After he cleared the bed of weeds, he noticed there’s still a chili pepper plant producing, and even some green tomatoes on the vine just to the right of his leg. I’d love to pick those ripe. We’ve never had tomatoes much past July 1st.

Awhile back, I posted about how I hadn’t mowed the yard all year and as a result I expected to have a beautiful wild sunflower display in October. I am not disappointed.

There's also a nice Echinacea blooming... just one.

A Scene From Kona Ranch

Another reason I don't mow the yard. This was the beautiful sight which awaited us when we got home from work one day recently after a wind and rain.

Let Me Put It In An Art Format

This is txrad:

This is me:

What do YOU think is more real?

It's a Jungle Out There

Back in the old days when I actually worked from home, I would routinely do all kinds of yard work during the week. It was so convenient to just walk about at 10:00a on a Wednesday and decide to mow the yard.

I've been suffering from a severe case of "I don't care" so much about a well manicured lawn for the past couple of years. When we first moved in here ten years ago the lawn was kept mowed and the brush had been cleared out from the yard near the street. I'm a big proponent of privacy and I actually prefer my house not be visible from a street. We're slowly getting back to that point.

It's amazing what happens when you don't mow for a year or two. The first thing I've noticed is a far greater number of wildflowers than I've seen in previous years. Plus with all the sunflowers I've allowed to grow, we're going to have a spectacular display of yellows around October or so.

In the meantime I would like to get the mower out and at least mow a path around the house so we don't have to walk through tall grass. Plus it's impossible to see any snakes with the grass so high.

It should be obvious from these photos what a difference an abundance of rain can make in greening things up. This is the path to the garden from our back patio. The cedar chips have decomposed mostly and the grass needs to be cut from the path.



You make a right turn down at the tree and there's a slight incline up to the garden area which you really can't even see in this photo. It's a very small plot of two raised beds enclosed in a wire fence.



Green, green and MORE green. This is another view directly into the back yard from the patio. That whirligig on the left was a gift from me to txrad for one of his birthdays. It has two segments which are supposed to spin in opposite directions with some help from the wind. I don't see it spinning very often.



The west side of our yard which would be a left turn at the tree as you walk the path to the garden is a lot of... grass. I really like it when the tall grass gets those slightly purple seed heads which sway in the breeze. Collectively, they will look very purple and I think it's a lovely sight. The street lies on the other side of those trees and I love the fact it's not even visible. Once I get those conditions in place on the east side of the yard, I'll be content.

Our neighbor across the street keeps his yard looking like a golf course. I'm sure he is appalled at our "landscaping." I don't care. We're rustic hippies over here.



Ahhh, life at the kona ranch.