Seeds

“Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive”

ESPatch Jan 15, 2022 2 comments

“A-ha-ha-ha…he’s gonna die, he’s way too high”

This is what a 22 inch disco ball looks like!

This one went in at the bottom of the Patch, up in my post oak.

Getting this sparkling beast hoisted up over a large oak bough involved planning, my daughter, and a few near-death experiences at the top of my stepladder.

This has to have been my closest brush with a ‘Darwin Award’ to date.

Not being particularly good with heights to begin with, wrestling with a very large, reflective ball, atop a ladder is ill-advised at the best of times. I kept getting fleeting glimpses of the terror on my face, reflected back at me a thousand times in the tiny reflective squares.

“You okay up there Dad?”

“Doin’ okay”

Attempting to hacksaw the hardened-steel chain to shorten it to the right length was a character building experience to say the least.

That brings the disco ball count to four – not finished yet!

At one point I actually considered using an angle grinder to cut the chain. My internal voice started the Bee Gees refrain: “A-ha-ha-ha…he’s gonna die, gonna lose an eye…”

I decided against it.

Strung-up, it does look good at night- adding a whole other dimension to our firepit area.

Moving along.

Common Cattails (Typha latifolia) also know as bulrushes.

The final Cattails are offering their own unique light-show right now, especially with our recent winds stripping the seeds from the now over-ripe flowers. The seeds get to some staggering altitudes.

The large, cylindrical, brown spikes are the female flowers. Immediately above this protrudes a smaller, pointed spike of the male flowers.

This small stock tank has contained this stand of Cattails for years, ever since my kids were small.

I keep it moist and throw in some mosquito dunks after a good rain. As a marginal plant, Cattails like their feet to stay continuously wet.

Their roots spread by rhizomes, so keep them contained.

My kids have grown considerably since those early images, but they still can’t resist exploding the Cattails.

With the exception of my opuntia tree, the ‘Front of Patch’ has bounced back quite well after last years freeze. The palm responded well to the brutal ‘pruning’ the city gave it and has grown more vigorously up into the street cables.

This is what my opuntia tree looked like pre-freeze:

Over the course of the past year most of the limbs went into decline and broke off.

“MEDIC!”

It is now down to a single 10ft trunk, but I think this limb is going to make it!

“Don’t look at the shrunken-head sago palm, don’t look at the shrunken-head sago palm, don’t…”

These grasses put on a dramatic burgundy show this year.

I believe they are Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Giant’?

But I may be completely wrong.

Anyone?

The arching Boa seed heads have some great coloration.

Talking of seed heads…

https://www.eastsidepatch.com/2008/12/purple-harvest/

I used to harvest the seeds from these Celosia seed heads to spread it to other areas, but it does the best job if just left to its own devices. I started with one small bag of seed some 20 years ago from the Natural Gardener and it still pops up in unexpected places to this day.

I will leave you on a rather abstract note with this image of the Fairmont Hotel I snapped hanging out of my trusty steed the other day.

One of my favorite Austin buildings.

I had no idea there was a large pool area on top of the lower platform.

Stay Tuned For:

“Boot Leather Combos”

Unauthorized intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant) 14th century planet Earth techniques.

Hi, its me, Poppy…

ESPatch Feb 13, 2020 0 comments

…Oh.

https://youtu.be/Kb4dd_aWmok

Last year I let some poppies turn super brown and crusty at the front of the Patch.

When I couldn’t stand to look at them any more I pulled them from the ground, and started to flay them to facilitate seed dispersion. The over the shoulder technique I adopted from a distance resembled some masochistic religious affair, especially when combined with the sporadic lurching and occasional incantation that I would blurt out whenever a scooter would pass close by…(pre-lock-down obviously).

If someone gets too close to the house now, we start shooting them with my son’s Nerf-guns whilst I jump on my trucks PA to yell at the good folks to move right along.

When I say “yell”, it is more of a mumble due to general discomfort and facial irritation of my new fuzzy Mullein Mask™ .

I cannot imagine wearing this AND an iced-turban™.

Having 4 very large Mullein plants (top) means we also have plenty of cowboy toilet paper.

“There’s no way I’m wiping with that, Dad!”

“I would suggest picking it early morning when there is a hint of dew on the leaves, get the smaller new leaves in the middle they are softer?” (Besides, everyone knows you are not really clean without water).

…Walks away in disgust.

The poppies have completely taken over the front of the Patch, I wonder how the little barrel cacti are doing under there?

The Yucca Rostrata are struggling to keep their punk heads above water.

Long after they have finished blooming – which is a pretty quick cycle – the small crowns keep adding their own unique aesthetic.

Prolific seeders, one poppy crown has about this many seeds!

After cleaning the poppies out, a bit more flaying around, and sweating behind my Mullein Mask™, the area was almost back to its normal self.

I plan to add flagstone throughout this area.

Note to self…also wear some Mullein Mufflers™ next year to avoid wayward seeds getting into ears.

Moving Along…

I accidentally uncovered this caterpillar as I was picking up leaves under my post-oak. When uncovered, it went into really quick spasms like a shrimp.

Feet and pincers a-wigglin’.

The underside was really exotic looking.

I believe this is the caterpillar of an Underwing Moth (not sure which one, maybe Catocala ilia?).

They are large moths that rest on tree trunks during the day, blending right into the bark (just like the topside of the caterpillar).

Here is something I have been painfully tracking on one of my needle palms…they don’t call it needle or hedgehog palm for nothing.

Rhapidophyllum hystrix

Greek meaning sharp (rhapis) and leaf (phylum).

This palm is as tough as it is lethal. I go in knowing to be careful around it, but it always gets me regardless. The needles facing straight on are practically invisible.

It started off as a small pale shell,

then it split open, a furry paw clawing out of it.

Over the last week or so, it continued to grow with the initial shell darkening in color.

It looks like a piece of coral but they are in fact the flowers of the palm, the male inflorescence to be precise.

After flicking around with a stick in my other needle palm, I uncovered what I suspect is the female inflorescence?

This palm is supposed to be dioecious (male and female flowers on separate plants).

“Look at all that inflorescence lads!”

Finally:

Temperatures are starting to rise, and air-plants are starting to fall…

This was a particularly fine example. It had been perched on top of my wind chimes for the longest time, I guess the recent storm dislodged it.

Edit: Leah knocked it out of the chimes.

I will finish with a recent design I executed for a backyard in Northwest Austin.

The property was on a seriously steep slope, a slope with seriously bad soil, in fact hardly any soil at all! (Say that 5x fast wearing a Mullein Mask™!)

You can see the ‘before’ images (lower-right).

The intent here was to design a solution to allow the home owner, and their dogs to access the lower reaches of their yard, currently inaccessible.

The project was a logistic challenge. Due to the particularly harsh terrain, the design revolves around elevated structures, and raised planters. The goal was instead to work with the terrain instead trying to fight it.

A series of steel planters and panels are positioned throughout the scheme to visually screen utilities whilst providing an industrial aesthetic and backdrop.