Oh yes, it was time to replenish my pruning tools with some sharp fresh blood, in this case a couple of pairs of brand spanking new Felco secateurs, courtesy of Hill Country Gardens. I even splashed out on a new pair of gloves!  I go through gloves faster then the snout weevil goes through my agaves and generally buy a new pair at the start of each install (they usually only last about that long) we will see how these hold up. Oh yes the pruners…the smell of new forged steel and fresh oil.

I was hunched over my new UPS delivery in my living room, inhaling deeply and rotating the new blades like Gollum would his ring. I whispered under my breath…“my preciouses”, and flicked the unlock mechanism, my wife caught me in the act and asked what on earth I was doing?

I love new tools almost as much as new electronic devices (which have an even better aroma), a loud nostril inhale always follows the automatic door opening when I enter Best Buy.

I wasted no time trying out my new implements, the first heirloom tomato of the year seemed like fair game. While my head was buried deep inside my tomato plants I had the distinct impression that I was being watched.

“No-one would have believed in the early years of the twenty-first century, that our world was being watched by intelligences greater than our own. That as men busied themselves about their various concerns, they observed and studied.

With infinite complacency men went to and fro about the globe, confident of their empire over this world.

Yet, across the gulf of space, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic regarded our planet with envious eyes. And slowly, and surely drew their plans against us”.

Ceriagrion aeruginosum

Wake Up!

They are also known as Big Red Damselflies, and although they are bright red, they are also very hard to spot. Damselflies are predators, they will eat nearly any other insect and are especially adept at picking aphids off plants, they are our garden friends…in stark contrast to this chap:

who showed up in my last remaining pampas grass this week,

knifes, forks and jaws at the ready.

The bee mimicking hoverflies are once again protecting their most prized bounty, this Barbados cherry.

They get so annoyed and aggressive when I am around this plant, but I know they are the con-men of the insect world, the charlatans, always threatening to sting but having no stingers to deliver the punch. This particular one is a carpenter bee as it turns out… (thanks for the post post positive ID meredee).

Evergreen wisteria,

Millettia reticulata

is forming blooms, and lots of them. This is one of my favorite vines so naturally I have three of them in different places all over the Patch. Give it plenty of room though, it will get quite large and very heavy, though it is not invasive…highly recommended.

Here is the vine looming over two trellises that my bench is anchored to.

Echinacea and Madame Ganna Walska water lilies are also entering their prime this week.

I decided this stand of Mexican weeping bamboo needed some additional recognition for attaining such a substantial diameter. This semi-circular pattern of three different brick sizes worked out a treat, laid directly into decomposed granite. I had no idea what I was going to do when I started this, but the final free-form result works to draw attention to this specimen plant.

My helper did a great job of handing me the bricks from the wheelbarrow, this made a huge difference, not having to do a hundred squats back and forth. The sabal major on the right will require another rainbow arc (which will ultimately join this one) as it matures.

And to finish…some Patch oddities this week:

Can you spot the green lynx spider?

Fall Aster, in May?

A stunted hollyhock, this has to be smallest ever.

The magenta blood vessels on these chard leaves were amazing, these shots came from Sheryl Williams’ vegetable garden who was recently featured on the Inside Austin Gardens Tour

Here is her blog:

http://yardfanatic.blogspot.com/

Mount Bonnell, ESP Design Install…part two:

Front of house / Patio

The fenced in courtyard has a magnificent Mediterranean fan palm growing in it, one of the largest I have seen…so you can grow them in Austin!  The before image (left) was a rather random affair, lots of mediums doing visual battle with each other, and seemingly haphazard plantings of ornamental grasses in a bed of turfallo grass that was weak and full of weeds.  The visualization on the right adds a bit of punch to the scene. I decided to replace the grass with Tejas black shingle to deepen the contrast and to reference the color of the wrought iron work on the enclosed patio. The focal point at this stage was a proposed bubble fountain that later became a planter. I went for a stand of soft leaf yucca to contrast the grasses that remained.

Here is the final result:  The planter is populated by a baby Agave parryi huachucensis and is surrounded by accenting grey flagstone.

The white limestone rocks inside the enclosed patio area I also replaced with the Tejas black shingle to add further visual continuity through the scene to the house.

And some shots of the new Hell-strip:

Stay Tuned for:

“Close Encounter”

All material © 2011 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“In the event of a water landing, I have been designed to serve as a flotation device”

And even more rain in Central Texas…and even more mosquitoes, although I have noticed that they are getting slower, their desperation for the red matter making them easier to swat. There are also some mosquito-monsters, what is that? Is that a? You have got to be kidding me… some are so large, getting stung is like getting stabbed with a knitting needle. Hey, everything is bigger in Texas.

The rain had beaten down this swallowtail butterfly to the ground, along with some Mexican Bush Sage. When I approached, as if on cue, the bird moved a wing ever so feebly, like a surrender flag.  It was a tragic scene.

I managed to get the butterfly on a small twig where I then placed it up higher, next to one of my gazing balls, to get a breeze and dry it’s wings off.  As soon as a breeze hit it’s wings, it immediately struck a pose.

Like a huge flying mantra ray, or a solar sail in orbit around an alien sun, it sat in that spot for hours, slowly fanning it’s wings. The next day it had gone, perhaps an anole ate it? Perhaps it dried off and flew away? I will never know.

Uhh ohh…(sirens go off)

NERD Alert, NERD Alert, NE…

It seems as though my Giant Timber Bamboo has developed barnacles, bamboo barnacles!

Small ones, large ones, exploded ones, If you have Giant Timber, the chances are you have some of this, a US import from the East.

Try saying that one at a party to ensure everybody looks at you like a freak for the rest of the evening!  The Asterolecaniidae, or pit scales, are an unusual group in which many members can cause “pits” to occur on their host plants, usually Bambusa.

Many are considered as damaging pests on their hosts, sucking the sap from the culm sheath and stems. (Adjusts glasses) This is one of the more common pit scales. The coloration of this scale is light green to light brown with a cream colored to orange margin.  It has a waxy covering making it difficult to eradicate…I don’t even try. Snort

My front porch has been consumed and I mean consumed by this Passiflora Coccinea or Red Passion Flower this year. The vine escaped its usual winter die-back fate last year due to the particularly mild winter we had. This years growth on top of the old growth has created a vine of monsterous proportions, it is attempting to engulf my entire front porch. If we do not have a cold winter this year I fear my front door may become unusable.

It is like the carnivorous Mexican vine in the movie “The Ruins”.  It is even trying to get into the windows!  I will let it for now because in the mornings when the sun shines on it, it creates the best shadows to wake to, very jungle like, and I do like jungle.  I am just happy that it is not planted on the side of our house with the Tahoe hole in it, or I firmly believe it would already be inside the house, covering the TV and our Lazy Boys with it’s green tendrils.

House of Vines, originally uploaded by: jasohill

Could this be the fate of the Patch should we not get a good freeze this winter?

Staying on the subject of rather large vehicles, driving at high speed into the sides of houses, this is the current scene in our living room right now. The recent cold fronts we have been experiencing have created the need for some creative improvisation, oh yes when the colder wind picked up recently it was whistling through here. It made watching a movie feel more like an outdoor retreat. What was our creative improvisation?  Well as you can see, it involved copious amounts of Duct Tape and some plastic leaf bags to achieve this deconstructionist aesthetic. I have to mention that these bags are constantly sucking in and blowing out, it is like living inside of bellows.  The Botox Lady had a really strange look on her face when I walked past her from the shed carrying the roll of Duct Tape.

Another over-achiever that has really sprung this year (its third year) is this Buddha’s Belly Bamboo,

Bambusa tuldoides ‘Ventricosa’

I am thinking of taking out the white pomegranate shrub on the right of it to offer the scene some more breathing space. I have never really cared for this shrub, it has a scrappy curled look to it’s foliage, like it is perpetually thirsty.  Apart from the white blooms it develops in the spring, it mostly just sits there, bothering me, yes, I am afraid the woodcutter will return with his sharpened axe in the very near future, what do you think? Do I just hate “curly foliage”?

It is not like the Belly Bamboo does anything more spectacular, but the foliage just works for me as an imposing tropical backdrop to these variegated agaves.

I cannot describe how many insects are on this Amaranth at the moment. It has rendered my center pathway almost unusable. Clouds of moths,wasps,hoverflies,wasps,butterflies,bees surround you should you sweep past the colorful plant. It is quite staggering.

This one was particularly large and spiky, the body of the fly glowed ruby red.

The insects seem to get drunk on the Amaranth necter, not caring at all about the camera.

Arrooooooo!

Lots of fall color right now in the Patch courtesy of Amaranth, cigar plant, Philippine violet and Mexican bush sage.

We went to the Mueller playground at the weekend and spotted some of Austin’s very own Monk Parakeets, they were everywhere!  As were their feathers that kept falling out of the tree as I took this photograph.

Somebody got to work immediately collecting the colorful feathers.

Myself?…Naturally I was hunkered down next to this amazing specimen of Umbrella Plant

Cyperus alternifolius (Unbrella Papyrus)

I may just have to bury yet another rather large rubber container and get this one going. It would look great buried in the middle of a bed as a center-piece with an under-planting of…wait, I think I know just the place!

Finally…

A freshly emerged damselfly?

The Bog Cyprus in my main pond has started to brown and shed, so it is out with the net…

“Let the boring scooping begin!”

I hope you will check out the new ESP “character listings” at the top of the green side-bar under “Pages”. Let me know if I have missed any important details or if I have excluded anyone you think should have a presence there.

Cactus Man, Cactus Man where art thou?

Stay Tuned for:

“The Leaf, the Witch, and the Water-feature ”

All material © 2009 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by  late  (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

photo curtesy of Dave http://www.flickr.com/photos/grizdave/

The strangest thing happened to me the other day…

Hiking in an uncharted  patch of the Patch, I noticed that I was ascending, I climbed steadily uphill for about two solid hours.  I suddenly came to a clearing on top of a huge rock, it seems my rock was one of three holey rocks in the range, towering up out of the lower jungle verbena canopy.  Stunned by the breathtaking view I sat down for a brief rest and one of my first ripe satsumas. In the far off distance my eyes were drawn to a small wisp of fire smoke on the valley floor, could it be another faction of the Naboo tribe perhaps?

Curiosity got the better of me, I had to find out.  I checked my rations and decided although not enough, I would find some food on the way. I saw a small trail to the side of me that looked like it wound its way down the rock-face in front of me.

I checked my compass, pulled up my long socks – “English style” (just below the knee, just high enough to look totally ridiculous)…

and set off down the holey rock escarpment.  I descended this Texas holey rock to a ledge, where, to my surprise, I found an enormous rope bridge stretching all the way across the valley to another one of the rocky mountains, I decided to make the perilous crossing across this rickety bridge. Who could have built such a structure? Where would it lead?

As I ventured down the length of the bridge I noticed that it terminated on the far side inside a cave.

Photograph by joint British-Vietnamese Caving Expedition 2009 / Barcroft Media Ltd.

A rather large cave as it turned out. There were a lot of strange subterranean creatures lurking in the shadows, and lots and lots of moths, attracted to the torch I had just lit. I have never had as many moths as I have had this year, they are everywhere in the patch right now, clouds of them.

That is quite the hair cut.

What incredible camouflage this moth had on this old Post Oak leaf

The cave had one rather annoying inhabitant that would not shut up about a ring. I quickly threw him a fish from my backpack (which struck me as very odd, as I had no recollection where it came from or how it got in their) and headed toward the cave exit.

Emerging out of the cave there was some really dense, tropical foliage. Sago palms, and potato vines made walking a lot harder.

Clambering through a dense thicket of Fatsia japonica  I could see the small white flower clusters developing, getting ready for an end of year bloom.

Just like the fragrant mist flowers these also make the flies and insects go wild. I have four of these, they make great foliage fillers and add a really tropical appearance, with their large glossy leaves.

And what funky, poached-egg flower structures they have.

Continuing forward I found the small trail again, which led me to this,  I can only assume it is some ancient temple of architectural significance. It looks like the central tower is a messaging beacon of sorts, although it was presently unlit, I could see what looked like the burnt remains of a fire at the very top.

As I was marveling at the Agave temple, the heavens suddenly opened up,

This Familiar Bluet damsel fly took refuge under this overhead canopy.

I took shelter and ate some Barbados cherries picked from a nearby bush. Pulling my jacket tightly around me I shut my eyes and rested.

I awoke to this motley crew, banging their spears on the ground, and wearing what looked to be modified chimineas as rather cumbersome headdresses.  My eyes focused in on the particularly silly looking mask in the background,  it’s jolly expression disturbing me to the core. What WAS this tribe… Naboo in ancient origin perhaps?  I tried a few mouth clicks combined with some rudimentary tribal gestures that I knew, but they garnered no response, in fact they bound and gagged me, ensuring I did no more. I needed Bob at Draco Gardens to appear, with his superior tribal translation talents.

They tied me up to a log and transported me through the verbena jungle…I feared the worst. My anxiety rose even more as we passed these tiny impaled bodies.

I felt nauseous. Looking up at all these gummy corpses. Was this to be my fate in the Patch?  Impaled on a massive sacrificial barrel cactus like a gummy bear?

I screamed out, then screamed some more Ahhhhhhhh!                                  then…

…I must have woken my wife up uttering the words…“No, no, click clack …please..click…nooooooo”! Because the next thing I remember is being jabbed in the ribs, and hearing:  “Your having a bad dream and quit all your mouth clicking!  it is four in the morning, your going to wake the kids!”

That explains how Gollom’s fish got into my backpack.

“That was one crazy night, huh D?”

Happenings happening in the Patch this week…

The late afternoon sun seemed captured in this small purple Philippine violet vessel.

Barleria cristata

The aesthetically sharp top foliage of this plant is almost aloe-like in form, a great contrast to the soft, purple trumpet blooms. A dependable performer. I just wish the blooms lasted a little longer, they bloom and drop quite fast it seems.

I have been trying to get a shot of one of these large wasps for quite some time.  They have been visiting my amaranth from the moment it started to bloom.  The most unnerving thing about these wasps is not only their sheer size, (this one was a smallish one) but the way they scurry around…they are extremely agile. I assumed that they would also be fast to sting, so I have been approaching them from afar, at arms length with the camera. Today though I managed to get in closer, and it did not mind at all.

These are cicada killer wasps., and they can get to1-½ to 2 inches in length.

Sphecius speciosus (Drury)

These wasps are large, solitary, ground dwelling wasps that provision their homes with cicadas after stinging and paralyzing them. Larvae feed only on cicadas, and the adult will feed on flower nectar.

Fly away cicada, fly away!

Artemisia and Cosmos…ice and fire

A fall gathering.

This Desert Trumpet Vine, just continues to bloom and bloom. Bumper year this year.  These flower clusters are about a foot around.

I want to finish with this very intestinal potato vine, just to gross you out before saying …

“FRREEEDOOOOM”!

You didn’t think this post could escape this sacrifice did you?

Stay Tuned for:

“The Company of Wolves”

All material © 2009 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by  late  (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.