Yucca

“Mountains & Meteors”

ESPatch Feb 1, 2016 1 comment

I found this huge Differential Grasshopper

Melanoplus differentialis

swaying around in a patch of Gulf Muhly.

I could hear groans and one “really dad”? emanating from the back seat as I rolled effortlessly out of my truck, camera in hand, to stalk the creature in the middle of a rather public walkway on Wimberley high street.

We took a walk down the now serene Blanco River.

The habitat is still recovering from the devastating flooding of last may when the river rose 30 feet in less than three hours.

We climbed over and under lots of smaller trees that had been pushed over as the river experienced rises that exceeded 20 feet in one hour.

Most of the old cypresses had weathered the storm with only a few cuts and bruises,

though this image from last year shows some were not so lucky.

I wonder if these were cypresses?

We recently took a trip out to Marfa (west Texas) in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert to visit friends

and play in the snow…yes snow!

She wasted no time generating a chilling family.

Marfa is situated in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos between the Davis Mountains and Big Bend National Park.

It is famous for its contemporary art scene and of course the mysterious Marfa lights which unfortunately I did not get to experience on this trip.

I hope the artist does not take offense to the title tag I placed on the image.

“Mulder, I cannot believe is was 1999 when we made that episode about the Marfa lights.”

“Just five more miniseries to go Scully.”

We took many walks and encountered plenty of interesting minimalist desertscapes, some

appeared to be an extension of the street.

Nassella trumpuissima?

After a close encounter with a Spanish Dagger,

Yucca faxoniana

and a few more snowballs in my back,

it was time for some liquid refreshment (courtesy of El Cosmico) and then up into the Davis mountains for a spot of hiking.

Eagles soared effortlessly overhead, things on the ground were a little different.

The views around this area are staggering but you had better watch where you are walking, everything in this terrain is out to get you.

Sotols,

Dasylirion texanum

grow like weeds at this altitude,

rock-face even out of rock faces!

The Chihuahuan Indians made use of the plant by fermenting sotol juice into a beer-like alcoholic beverage as early as 800 years ago. The outer leaves are removed to reveal the central core, the core can be cooked, shredded, fermented and distilled.

Photo by Phil Dering

These pulpy cores were also baked and pounded into chewy patties which could be dried and stored.

The Indians also used the straight flowering stems of the plant as lances and spears with an attached stone or metal point.

We DID tell you it was going to be cold.

An occasional high pitched squeal would give away the position of these perfectly camouflaged smaller cane cholla cacti lurking in the native grasses.

The larger ones were not so much of an issue.

At the top of the trailhead we had a glass of vino and observed and tried to identify (with the help of our very informative local field guides) lichen and scat aka: (King Richard the 3rd’s) see: http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2015/09/king-richard-iii/

Occasionally the scat was on the lichen making it unclear as to which field guide to use first.

From up hear we could see Indian Lodge,

a pueblo style lodge constructed by the CCC in the 30’s.

In the far distance we could see the McDonald Observatory.

A short car ride later and we were standing inside UT’s Frank N. Bash visitors center staring at a rather large iron meteorite that was found 15 miles northwest of the observatory by a seven year old.

It is made up almost entirely of iron and nickel.

Mountains to meteors…thanks for a great trip L & N.

Time to charge up the iPads, avoid the tumbleweeds (I had no idea how big they could get) and hit the very straight roads back to Austin just in time for my daughters birthday present.

Tumbleweed Chandelier by Jean Landry, Marfa.

Photo by Susan Simmons

She had been excited and looking forward to seeing her YouTube idol Colleen Ballinger (Miranda Sings) perform her show for months,

and tonight was the night – a sell out show at the Paramount.

She had no idea she was going to meet her!

My return home was significantly less glamorous…

Seriously?

Stay Tuned For:

“Seeds & Weeds”

All material © 2016 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Barf or Peach?”

ESPatch Dec 9, 2014 7 comments

First it does this…

…then it does this…

…before finally doing this:

I am not complaining though, the winter color this bog cypress provides is well worth the mess…and the $1 child-labor-netting.

What is really annoying is that this post oak deposites its leaves into the same pond first.

Urgh, the first onslaught.

This pond has been going for about 10 years with lots of skimming, minimal maintenance and zero cleaning…(twice a year filter-cleaning via the garden hose only).

On a recent assessment I fear I may have to finally break-down and dredge it.

I am a proponent of the non-cleaning of stock-tank ponds, build up the eco-system until the rising sludge becomes life-threatening to the inhabiting creatures, or the pump…

…leave it until the final hour.

“How highs the organic-matter-mamma?”

“Two-feet-high and risin”.

Needless to say, I will not be employing this past-technique when the Eco-reset comes:

http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2008/08/primordial-soup/

I will never forget that experience!

So many leaves,

and so many of these Bordered Plant Bugs, Largus sp. this year,

they love to find their way indoors when the cold weather hits.

This is my 4th since starting this post,

the second one I caught in my peripheral vision crawling over my shoulder,

enough said.

Fatsia Japonica is a very late bloomer, with some very unusual flowers.

Flowering as late as it does guarantees an abundance of insect life.

Greenbottle flies,

paper wasps and

DSC08091 copy these enormous spiky Tachinid Flies to name a few aralia visitors, there are many more.

Get off that Yucca and make your way to the Japonica, there are Tachinid Flies to be had!

images3

“Bear, you have just had lunch.”

As soon as Thanksgiving was over…I knew what was next in store for me.

The customary wrestle through the front door, the sap, the stupid mounting base, clanking step ladders, needles, sweat, “its not straight”, the too heavy star, the pruning, the awkward watering maneuver (AWM), “Dad, its still not straight”.

“The lights were working earlier, what did you do?”

“How do you replace the fuses again? Where are the spare fuses?” “Where are my readers?”

“Dad, I think its leaking!”

“I wanted to hang that decoration…”

etc.

A calming adult beverage later and some excited expressions make it all worthwhile though,

is that star still leaning?

Finally:

I will leave you with a few before and after images of a front garden makeover I completed a few years back.

Conflicting linear materials and some patchy turf was replaced with decomposed granite and perimeter privacy plantings.

It was great to see how the foliage had matured both on the right side,

and the left:

The loquats in the distance were tiny when I planted them.

Buddha’s Belly and Alphonse Karr bamboo adding passageway depth and drama to a side gate.

While taking pictures on the property I came across this fasciated Texas mountain laurel…a fine mutated specimen.

BloodTestThing Dr. T. Ombrello wrote:

‘One interesting type of mistake that is occasionally found in plants is known as a fasciated or crested growth form. It is usually the result of a growing point changing from a round dome of cells into a crescent shape. Subsequent growth produces a flat stem. In some cases fasciation is the result of several embryonic growing points fusing together, with the same flat-stem appearance.’”

“Fasciating”.

On that particularly bad note,

ladies and gentlemen I give you the riveting 2014 bean-boozled-challenge:

Stay Tuned For:

“Whats in Your Stocking?”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques