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Seeds are stronger than you think!

As we felt the wrath of tropical storm Hermine last week, I was most worried about all the tiny little seeds I’d so carefully planted just a few short days before.

I had visions of them floating away down the road to the neighboring town of Buda.

Then I had visions of them simply drowning in the mud-filled beds.

And finally, I had visions of them surviving, but scattering and intermingling so that I would never know what was what.

Guess what? They liked the rain. So much so that some of them popped their little heads up in just 4 days!

These are bush beans with their pretty little copper marker made with my nifty spiffy label maker. (Do you have one? I love mine!)
And these tiny little guys are going to grow up to be Brussels sprouts.
While some of the plants are a little water-logged, many of my plants have emerged rejuvenated after the storm. This ice plant is bright and cheery.
This heavenly hibiscus loved the deep, long drink.
The Hyacinth bean vine blooms burst forth after the heavy rains.
These plants aren’t in the direct path of the rain (although we had lots of sideways rain), they loved the humidity of the storm.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:12-05:00September 11th, 2010|Blog, fall garden, rain, seeds, Sharing Nature's Garden, storm, tropical storm, vegetable garden, vegetables|0 Comments

The garden supervisor

I went out yesterday morning to capture a few shots of water (yes, really, in Austin in July) on the garden.

I didn’t realize until I was outside that I had some supervisory assistance!

Dakota sat and watched me until she couldn’t see me any more. I’m not sure if she was wishing she could come outside, or if she was just thinking in her little pea-brain, “What in the world is that alpha-dog-woman doing now?”

Don’t you sometimes wonder what they’re thinking? I was even wondering about the squirrel who stopped in his tracks on the way up the tree when he saw me watching him through the window.

It was lush and green and moist in the garden this weekend after our several inches of welcome rain last week.
The drops on the Caladiums look like puddles on an abstract painting.
And, like most things, the droplets were dwarfed by the huge blooms of the Moy Grande Hibiscus.

And the moisture helped me see this huge spider web that spanned about 5 feet — from a tall coneflower plant to a neighboring tree. Couldn’t see anymore when I got far enough away to get the whole thing in the shot, but clearly the spider had lured in some lunch.

The rains gave everything in the garden a huge boost — so welcome since I am leaving before the chickens are up on Thursday morning — heading to Buffalo for Buffa10, our annual garden bloggers meet-up. I’m so excited to visit with friends from across the country and meet new ones, while touring amazing gardens.

Will I see you there?

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:26-06:00July 5th, 2010|Blog, Buffa10, Dakota, Moy Grande hibiscus, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden, spring fling 2010|0 Comments

When it rains…

…other little things pop up in the garden.

With 4 days of steady rain here in Austin, oodles of tiny little mushrooms are emerging from the water-soaked ground.

They almost look like tiny aliens in the garden.

Certainly the rain seems alien!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:40:14-05:00July 3rd, 2010|Blog, mushrooms, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

When it rains, it pours…

We’ve had some more much-needed rain here in Central Texas. And while it’s helping to ease some of the drought, it’s really just the proverbial drop in the bucket so far.

Lake Travis, just outside of Austin in the Hill Country, was down 36 feet — yes, FEET, at the height of the drought this summer. The recent rains in September and October have caused the lake to rise a little more than 13 feet. Which means that it’s still 23 feet below its historic October average of 666.61 ft msl.
Forecasters are predicting a strong El Nino weather pattern for this fall and winter.That means Central Texas can expect a wetter and colder than average fall and winter.

El Nino occurs when the Eastern Pacific Ocean water warms up. During an El Nino, the jet stream pushes more storm systems through the Southern United States. El Nino events occur on average every three to five years.

“We’ve gone back and looked at 17 cases of past El Nino events, and we’ve seen in general about a 30 percent increase in precipitation during the wintertime months,” said Paul Yura, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service office in New Braunfels.

However, a moderate El Nino event may not erase the drought. Experts say that even with normal to increased rainfall, the large hydrologic and soil moisture deficits may mean we will be vulnerable again next summer.

Sigh…

Glad I have two pairs of wellies.

And I’m going to subscribe to the theory that every little bit helps. For now, everything is green and revitalized here in the garden. And that’s good.

I’ll worry about tomorrow…tomorrow.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:38-05:00October 27th, 2009|Blog, drought, El Nino, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden, weather|0 Comments

Drip, drop, pour …

This morning we were so lucky to get a nice, steady, heavy, WET rain for hours. At my house in far Southwest Austin, I have had 1.28 inches so far.

It’s been a delightful day – spent indoors — knowing that Mother Nature was taking great care of the garden outside.

Now I’m nesting on this rainy day, and instead of thinking of all the garden chores and projects I should be working on, I’m thinking about all the closets and drawers I should be cleaning out!

But that rain, it’s a beautiful sight.
This was an amazing sight this weekend on my front window. This Polyphemus moth, ID’d by my friend and neighbor, has been hanging around my entry way and my Loquat tree for several days. He’s HUGE! And I was glad to get to snap a photo of him.

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:40-05:00September 10th, 2009|Blog, moth, polyphemus moth, rain, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

More of the wet stuff!

Wow. Rain, twice in three days.

It’s a beautiful thing. Literally.

Not much today, just .12, but every drop helps when it’s this dry.

And it’s amazing how everything really is relative. The littlest bit of rain can make me so happy. I know the plants are so glad to get even a little wet, with the “real” thing instead of chemically-treated city water.

We opened the blinds and watched it while my daughter and I were eating dinner and talked about how happy the deer and the birds and the plants would be.

And here’s the official proof. I’m such a weather geek. I love measuring it.

And yes, I left these somewhere where they got rained on. Who knew it would rain? So, this is kinda like the “don’t tell anyone I let my vegetables get too big thing.” (So, don’t tell anyone I did this…again.)