Playing Plant Detective

After months of trying to find some time to get away, I finally was able to visit my daughter near Dallas last week.  I knew it wasn't the best time for her, though, as she had a busy schedule at work, but I don't mind entertaining myself during the day, especially when I could enjoy soaking up some warm Texas sunshine.  It was my first visit to her new house, and I was eager to see it, but I was also excited because she had asked me to help with some landscaping.  Now none of my children have the least bit of interest in gardening, so when one of them asks for advice on anything garden-related, I am ready to help with anything they ask!

Armed with a magazine photo and an article on design tips for front gardens, I arrived ready to get to work.  But my vision of coming up with a plan and implementing it over several trips to her home changed drastically once I saw her home in person.  Although her house is beautiful and big, the yard is tiny, typical of most of the suburban subdivisions I saw.  The house is about 15 years old which means there are already established plantings, so what my daughter really wanted was not coming up with a new landscape design, but rather revamping what was already there. Instead of being a designer, I wound up being a plant detective instead.

Granddog Bear enjoys sitting by the pool.

The back yard is dominated by a swimming pool, with a few shrubs in one corner next to the house.  What little grass there is needs to stay as a relief area for her three dogs.

The only concern Daughter had about this back area was a large tree planted next to the pool. She and her husband complained that it dropped leaves and debris into the pool, and they intended to cut it down.  I hate the thought of cutting down any tree, so I took a close look at it to try to identify it.

Now my Southern friends will probably be chuckling at my ignorance, but I'm not very good when it comes to identifying trees, other than the common ones, and this was a tree I wasn't familiar with at all.

The bark was certainly intriguing.  Later, as I explored the front yard, I discovered two similar, but shorter trees on either side of the front foundation and noticed nearly every yard had at least one, if not more, of the same trees.  A yard crew was cleaning up next door, so I approached one of the workers to see if he could help me identify it.  I wasn't sure if he spoke English, but he adamantly replied "Yes!" when I asked.  Unfortunately, when I asked him the name of the trees in my daughter's yard, he also replied "Yes."  I was pretty sure this wasn't a "Yes tree," so I thanked him and gave up:)  Later research on the internet finally gave me the answer--it's a crape myrtle!  Duh...I've always admired these trees on Southern bloggers' posts, but I'd never seen one when it wasn't in bloom.  When I pulled up images of it in bloom, Daughter and Son-in-law immediately agreed this tree was going to stay put, and they would put up with a few fallen leaves in their pool.

The two crape myrtles (Crape or crepe?? I found both spellings used in articles)  in front of her house had been severely pruned, in what some Southern garden writers call "crape murder."  It may not be the proper way to prune these trees, but it certainly is common, as I noticed similar stubby trees all around the neighborhood.

In front of her house, two narrow areas on either side of her front door had already been planted with shrubs and small trees. Daughter wanted only to add some flowers, not expand the area, and with her busy schedule, everything had to be low maintenance.

I offered to trim back all the shrubs, but I soon realized that first I needed to know what they were.  I identified the lovely Japanese maples she had (no, she had no idea what they were) and pointed out the boxwoods and a hydrangea.  But coming from a zone 5b garden to zone 8, I didn't recognize many of the other shrubs.  Thank goodness for the internet!  It didn't take long to identify this colorful foliage as a Nandina.

This one wasn't as easy, though.  It obviously needed some type of cutting back, but I wasn't going to touch it until I knew what it was.

You would think with such distinctive large leaves, it would be easy to find.  But many minutes spent surfing the internet brought up no conclusive answers.

It wasn't until later when I visited the Dallas Arboretum that I had my answer--Fatsia japonica.  Fatsia is hardy only to zone 8, so it's no wonder I wasn't familiar with this plant.  I was glad to see the specimens at the Arboretum were also in the disheveled state my daughter's were; hopefully, with the cutting back of dead leaves and pruning the stems, her plants will look much better soon.

Even though I was eventually able to identify most of the plants for my daughter, there were a few I was still mystified by.  This plant in a small area in the back yard looks like it needs some attention, but I have no idea what it is.

Here's a close-up of its leaves--any ideas??  While shopping at a garden center for some annuals, I noticed some Indian Hawthorn that looked very similar.  After a little research, I learned that it's hardy to zone 7 and produces pink or white blooms in the spring.  Perhaps once this blooms, it will be easier to identify.

Another mystery for me in the front planting--not a great photo, but any ideas on this one?  I also noticed something similar at the nursery and thought it might be an Abelia, but I really have no idea.  Again, once it blooms, it should be easier to identify.

If any of you, dear readers, can identify either of these two shrubs, I would greatly appreciate it.  Although I doubt Daughter will remember many of the plants I identified for her, I'm glad to know myself what she has so that I can answer any questions she might have about them later.  After cleaning up her small planting beds, we added a few colorful annuals and two azaleas that she picked out and mulched everything well.  It wasn't the big design job I had envisioned, but she was happy.

My visit wasn't all work, certainly--I had plenty of time to relax, including a visit to the Dallas Arboretum one day, just in time for the "Dallas Blooms"  celebration. No need to be a plant detective here--this tulipaholic was in a state of bliss surrounded by all these spring beauties!

Happy Halloween!

I've never been one to get too carried away in celebrating Halloween, but ever since she returned home in August, Youngest Daughter has been planning "the best ever" Halloween party for her nephews and nieces. 

A few weeks ago, we made the short trip to a pumpkin patch at a local farm to stock up on the essentials.

Filling up the back of the small SUV with a plethora of pumpkins and two bales of straw meant special seating arrangements had to be made to protect our precious cargo.

A few of the larger pumpkins turned into cute, scary, or even disgusting (see last photo) jack o'lanterns.

Daughter started decorating a week ago.  Since I'm not as much of a night owl as she is, I was never quite sure what sights I would wake up to in the morning.  Saturday morning I discovered my refrigerator had turned into a black monster with a huge gaping mouth.

I do try to dust fairly regularly, but cobwebs just seemed to appear overnight.

Outdoors, fluttering ghosts magically appeared, and pumpkin stakes marked the driveway.

On the night of the party, all the young grands appeared in costume, as did some of the over-20's as well.

Even newest grandson came in costume--a football, rather appropriate since his 4-year-old brother was dressed as a football player.

Coconut wasn't quite so thrilled, however, at being a hot dog, especially when he heard there was a weenie roast planned for later in the evening.

Daughter had planned everything down to the last detail with lots of activities for the kids, including pumpkin face-painting.

There were photo ops . . . 

 . . . and cookie and cupcake decorating.

Oldest grandson proudly shows off his cupcake creation . . .

. . . while his younger cousin preferred eating his.

There was even a pumpkin pinata. 

To counteract the possible sugar-overload, Daughter prepared lots of tasty snacks, mostly "finger food."

There were ghoulishly "bloody" mummy toes.

 

And mummy pizzas.

A little bit of everything, including tasty morsels to munch on  . . . or with:)

Everyone had a great time, and hopefully no one went home with a tummyache from too many sweets:)

I hope all of you have an equally spooktacular Halloween!

Wildflower Wednesday Wanderings

Don't let the title mislead you--it is Wildflower Wednesday, the monthly celebration of all untamed beauties.  But the wandering is a mental rambling of this and that, not a physical journey.  I had planned to take Sophie to one of our favorite places, the nearby forest preserve or the prairie park for a walking adventure in search of late-blooming wildflowers for this month's post. But a nasty sinus/respiratory/icky something infection has kept me inside more than I would like for the past week and too drained of energy to do more than what is absolutely necessary.

So instead I wandered around the farm, looking for possibilities.  The pickin's were slim.

I found only a small remnant of last year's October subject, the Aster pilosus, otherwise known as frost aster.  Last year there was a swath of these airy blooms around the outbuildings, providing some late flowering interest.  But a zealous trimming/weeding this summer by Mr. Procrastinator eliminated all but this small stem that escaped the powerful weedeater.   

Ah, to paraphrase the old saying, "One woman's wildflower is another man's weed."

Speaking of weeds, nearby in the butterfly garden, a late Aster-maybe is nearing the end of its blooms.  Its blooms are much smaller than the rest of the native asters and despite the photo's presentation, a pale pink in color.  I have no idea what type of aster this is and whether it even is an aster--or ex-aster for the experts.  The stems and branching habits are somewhat different than the New England asters, and in fact, I thought it was a weed of some sort.  It resisted pulling, so I left it alone.  Its late delicate blooms make me glad I did, although I may be sorry  if it tries to take over this garden next season like some of the other natives.

One of those thriving natives, the New England asters, have completed their show and already setting seed.  I did say a while back I was going to keep these from going to seed, didn't I?  Oh well, spring will be a good time for pulling unwanted seedlings, and I do like the looks of dried seedpods in the winter garden.  Hmm, this reminds me I still need to buy marshmallows for our weiner roast on Saturday.

Before we leave the butterfly garden where most wildflowers/natives reside, I want to show you this photo taken a few weeks ago.  It's a Penstemon X (the proper name escapes me now) given to me two years ago by our generous wildflower hostess Gail.  It's a spring bloomer, but never before have I noticed how lovely it looks in the fall--just look at that burgundy foliage!

Letting the feet and mind wander away from wildflowers now . . . two nights of frost last week have finally done in most of the annuals.  The once multi-hued zinnias are now all a uniform color, in varying shades of brown.

Some annuals are more cold-hardy than others, however.  The white 'Snow Sonata' cosmos in the same garden are still providing a feast for the hungry bumbles and honeybees.  Many of you have commented on these cosmos in my last few posts, and I will agree that these are definitely must-haves in my garden from now on.  I only wish I had saved more seeds from them, but they should be readily available again next year from Renee's Garden 

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I've been giving a lot of excuses in the past month or two for why I haven't completed all my intended fall gardening chores, and here's one more.  I spent many hours over the past several weeks completing this crib quilt.  I'm no master quilter--that's my mother's forte--so this piece is not perfect, but lots of love goes into making one of these every few years.  This is the sixth baby quilt I've made, each one for a special grandchild.

And did I forget to mention I have a new grandson??  Already a month old, here he is at one day old.  Grandma is anxious to get over this icky virus to get some new photos and spend some quality cuddling time with him again.

Thanks for indulging my ramblings this morning; for more informative posts on this Wildflower Wednesday, be sure to visit the ever-enlightening Gail at Clay and Limestone.

Memories Are Made of This

While gardener bloggers across the world are celebrating what is blooming in their gardens on this May Bloom Day, I have been celebrating another occasion this past week.  I am still coming back down to reality after a week away with family in beautiful Cancun, Mexico. 

No thoughts of weeding or planting, but rather sleeping in or even getting up early, if I chose, to watch the sun rise over the Caribbean.

I could get used to being totally pampered:)  The only work involved was walking to one of the many restaurants for a delicious meal, enjoying the ocean view along the way.

Time moves slowly here, especially when lazing by the pool or in a cozy lounge chair on the beach, reading and listening to the lapping waves.

There was time to leisurely enjoy the flora . . .

. . . and some very different fauna.  The iguanas were frequent visitors outside our room, but there were occasional sightings of lemurs as well.  One lemur even startled my granddaughter by jumping in the golf cart with her!

Not the adventurous sort, I preferred to sit on the sidelines watching others taking risks.  That's my husband floating high above the ocean, while I nervously paced the shoreline wondering if all his affairs were in order.  I also watched my granddaughter swim with the dolphins, but unfortunately cameras were not allowed in the pool area.

One regret I do have is that I didn't join my husband and daughters for a day trip to visit Chichen Itza, the site of Mayan ruins.

I was afraid I wouldn't be able to stand the intense heat of the afternoon, but judging by my husband's accounts and the photos he took, I missed an amazing sight.

But I certainly didn't miss out on the most important event of our stay--my daughter's wedding.  The ceremony was held right on the beach as the sun began to set.  The setting was beautiful, even if my vision was blurred a bit by a few tears.  Tears of happiness, of course, remembering what seems like such a short time ago when she was a pig-tailed little tomboy.  Most of all, we are thrilled that she found such a wonderful man to spend the rest of her life with.

There were lots of laughs during the stay, too, including enjoying Grandson who found playing in the sand the best part of being a ringbearer.

I have many new blooms in my garden to share with you one of these days,

but these are my best "blooms" of all!