Glimmers of recovery (what plants made it through summer..)

Summer winner: Sedum (Autumn Joy I think).. I will propagate more in this bed..

Hints of rain (and mildly cooler temps) and my Gaura, salvia and iceplants perk up in the new bed up front.. I can't wait until next year when they will be more established (except the iceplant which will probably turn to mush in any winter freeze..)

My chile pequin is probably in more shade than it wants, but I'm glad it's decided to give me little flowers- so they can develop into little peppers..

Sturdy garlic chives and rosemary..

At some point I'll identify this plant (that tries to pop up in the back and handles drought pretty well). It's got fuzzy, slightly tacky leaves and looks like it wants to be a scraggly bush...

The "softer"passionflower plant bloom- not showy but turns into bright red little fruits. The more dramatic one (below) never fruits. Both types pop up everywhere in the yard (happily followed by Frittilary butterflies)..

Happy Saturday everyone!

Snippets

Boy that's a lot of grass. Water hungry St Augustine at that. It's spotty, weedy and only half-trimmed, but I somehow can't imagine getting rid of all of it.. yet. Because where else would my 8 year old spin circles around (with his treasured "ninja stick"), rolling, flipping and flopping down to feel the sun on his face? I'll carve away at the edges each spring and fall (adding xeriscape bushes and beds), but will probably always leave a central "lawn" for the kids to throw balls and loll around on...

My fall project.. time to collect newspapers from my parents (we are digital at our house!) to smother the grass, cover with mulch and see what I can plant in the spring.. A perfectly unused edge to reclaim (and not have to water as much..).

I have done nothing to encourage this plant, but here it is, about to flower and produce pretty red fruits. It's a less showy passionflower vine that takes over the oregano (which has faded for the season anyway). I'm interested to see how the chickens take to the fruits..

Psst.. Hey bluebonnet. wrong season. Fun to see it anyways.. Neglected all summer it must be happy in it's spot. I'll sprinkle more seeds around it in the next few weeks (have to remember to refridgerate them!) to have a show next spring..