Unknown caterpillars in the dill

I've been hoping to see some swallowtail caterpillars take up residence in the dill and parsley before it gets pulled up to make room for cucumbers and beans, but instead these guys came to visit. Anyone know what type this is? The dill seedheads support whole communities of insects. Bought some veggies at Shoal Creek Nursery: yellow pear tomato, ichiban eggplant, sugar baby watermelon, zucchini, pickling and lemon cucumbers. The last one is something I've wanted to grow for years, and I was really happy to see it in stock! Another day in the life of the iris, and, below, my garden muse watches over the yard.

Burgundy Hibiscus

I don't know if this plant will survive the summer in this full sun spot, but I'm totally in love with the color of the flowers and foliage.

A simple plan, expanded

So, here is what my front yard looked like less than a month ago. Not a bit of true lawn, just pure spring weeds. And here is what that same stretch looks like now: This is one of those projects that started with a simple desire to have a drip irrigation system put in. Trying to water plants and lawn and trees at the old house last year was a bit of a nightmare (lots a dragging around the hose and setting multiple egg timers), and the idea of having a super-efficient watering system just makes sense when we're still in a drought, despite the winter/spring rains. And as long as that digging was going on, it seemed like a good time to put in a few xeriscape plants in the front half of the yard; you know, let them get established before the heat sets in.
Then it seemed only logical to have the decomposed granite mulch go all the way to the house, in terms of transitions. Etc., etc.

Tim and his team at San Isidro Design were nice enough to run with the change in scope, translate my plan on paper into a real landscape (and troubleshoot the problem areas), and make it all happen in a short amount of time. Can't say enough good things about these guys!

Here are some more shots of the process: The crepe myrtle part of the yard, before and after: I am so incredibly excited about this new landscape and what a great job the San Isidro team did! I have had a couple of people ask me if I'm planting grass in the front, which I find interesting. This neighborhood is a bit more cottage garden and lawn-skewed than the 50's era, xeriscape-friendly neighborhood I just moved from. But I think as the plants mature over the next couple of seasons, it'll start to blend in a bit more.

Blooms and Leaves

First up: one of the dozens of iris I dug up before the backyard became a high-traffic construction zone. Still haven't figured out where they will go in the landscape, but they've held up in their temporary homes since last summer. Can't believe this one bloomed! The volunteers: the clover (oxalis?) is everywhere, and the bees love it. And one of our two tomatoes that popped up out of nowhere, doubled in size from my last post. The dill is now well over 6 feet tall and about to go to seed. Just a month ago the trumpet vine was a scraggly bit of twigs and now this madness. Can't wait for the blooms, but I have a feeling we'll be cutting this back repeatedly over the summer. And some potted succulents.

Iris, canna, and the last turnip

This is part of a large stand of Louisiana iris that survived being parked on for months (renovation), no supplemental water through the drought, and a general ignoring since then (except for digging in a little compost recently). I was pleasantly surprised to see the foliage pop up last fall, and I was really excited to a bud forming a couple of days ago. This one's lovely, and I hope there are more blooms to follow. I forget what kind of canna this is, but I potted it last spring and it didn't bother blooming all year. Now it's doing it's thing; the orange bloom fades to a soft red on day 2. Time to pull up the final winter root vegetables, and the kale's getting muscled out by two giant dill plants. But it all still tastes great. Love that this tomato just volunteered. Was it from someone's backyard lunch? A bird? Who knows. Plants for the front landscape project. Had to battle for parking at Barton Springs Nursery this morning, but I got some good ones: artemesia powis castle, greg's mist, pink gaura, Mexican feathergrass, firecracker fern, and a burgundy hibiscus (the one thing that wasn't on my list, but it was too gorgeous in color to pass up...there was a burgundy leaved smoke tree that was really tempting, but definitely not an impulse buy!)

Huisache in bloom

The scent when you walk past or stand beneath a huisache tree right now is heavenly. Lucky to have so many on my morning dog walk at Shoal Creek.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: March 2012

Well, we're well into spring here in Austin. In the past week and a half the trumpet vine on the fence went from leafless to jungle-like. And we've had so many rains and misty mornings lately that the trails that were so dry and barren last summer are bursting with wildflowers and soft green grasses. Lots of blues & purples (dayflowers, spiderwort, baby blue eyes, bluebonnets). And the scent of the huisache flowers perfumes my morning walk. Did I mention that I love spring here?

I've got a big landscaping project in the works for next week, and until then, the garden blooms are mostly the ones that just popped up on their own.
Several of the blooms this month actually come from winter vegetables that are bolting. Recent discovery: not only do Easter egg radishes produce a lovely variety of colored roots, but the accompanying blooms are also in various shades of pale lavender, pink, and white. The dill hasn't quite bloomed yet, but you can see below that it is out-of-control tall. The potted dependables: Happy Bloom Day! And don't forget to check in with all the other blooming gardens at May Dreams Gardens...