Late spring soaks..

Gulp..

I can almost hear the Texas limestone soaking up the buckets of rain from the last few days. My rain barrels are overfilled, which means I should order a couple more for overflow. Superstitiously though I worry that would make the rain stop! My chickens have been foolish enough to stay out, huddled under sunflower plants looking bedraggled, but they dry off quickly enough.. The new plants look happy.

As I look at my pictures I realize my theme today is how nature chuckles at my attempts to corral plants into where I want them. She usually has other ideas...

My pride of Barbados lends a low-maintenance tropical vibe up front. I might end up with a thicket of these- I have three volunteers wedged up against the sidewalk steps (impervious to my attempts to dig them out) and three other seedlings tucked innocently in the rest of the bed. The seedlings are only 3 inches tall now, but the bushes can get 4 feet wide easily so I may need to move them to other places. One is squished against a new salvia- I can picture the salvia getting starved for sunlight in a year..

A St Johns Wort plant that has the happiest blooms. This guy grows on the edge of the gravel driveway, gets ignored, sprayed with fence stain, run over by the car and still bounces back..

Part one of my "use my husband's bent bike rims" trellis project to channel the unstoppable Carolina snailsneed into something pretty..

Every year this pale purple morning glory pops out and tries to take over the rosemary. Since the rosemary is 5 feet long by 3 feet wide I humor the morning glory.. Funny how when I try to plant other varieties from seed nothing happens..

What is this yellow flowered plant??? In the wildflower  patch in the back, 3 feet wide, half smothering an evening primrose. After an hour of searching plants databases (for wildflowers and weeds) I'm still not sure what it is.. maybe a Yellow Meadow Beauty Rhexia lutea? But those grow in marshy areas and the back back is anything but..

Go away bamboo! You are only 6 inches tall, but I'll hack away at you as soon as the rain stops..

Maximillian sunflowers? Or just annual local sunflowers that like my yard? Not sure, but the pretty store packaged seeds come out tiny, pale and weak while these volunteers grow to be 6 feet tall covered in blooms. This year I'll enjoy sharing the seeds with the chickens!

Society garlic looking great with the rain (notice the knocked-down by squirrel sunflowers blooming resolutely in the background). Bent stems? No worries, they thrive on!

The planned plants need more babying..

My veggies are requiring quite a bit more protection than those tough volunteers:

A sign I made for the driveway chicken fence..

The chard is coming back in the front, woo hoo!

How I have started cucumber seeds : large crate on top to keep the hens away. I'll need to make some chicken wire hoops next weekend once the plans grow taller. There's small zinnias and nasturdiums in there as well..

Lemon boy tomatoes... one with a hole munched out!! I cut off the chewed bit and ate the rest :)

Green bean plants finally producing! The hens have left these alone so far..

Speaking of the girls..

The three teenagers are getting big, definitely bigger than bantam Ruby by now. They happily prowl around eating everything, including this juicy caterpillar I found in the kids sandbox.. 

It was a feisty caterpillar, too, thrashing this way and that until Dottie stole it from Houdini and gobbled it up. I looked it up and various candidate species are all drab moths, so I don't feel bad about depriving nature of a rare butterfly..

Handsome girls Houdini and Dottie making their rounds in the weeds.

Silverwing's feather patterns are becoming more distinct as she grows up- Silver Laced Wyandotte's are beautiful!

Ruby in her oregano patch nest. She was almost broody this week- I hope that she doesn't go completely broody since she just started laying!

Ruby is laying!

Teeny. I looked regularly in the places I thought she'd nest in- the coop, the box I created, a couple of shady spots. I happened upon these three by chance at dusk, in a hollow she created in the oregano patch. She doesn't want herbs in the nesting box- she wants to nest in the herbs!

May foliage and blooms (and feline tragedies)

Cheerful sights..

Indian blanket and Black Eyed susans..

Snippets of Bulbine that survived the late spring freeze, Jerusalem Sage, more firewheels and Black Eyed Susans, thriving in the sun drenched back back

Dallas Red lantana (or was it switched at birth with a Confetti?). No worries, it's cheerful in the new front bed

Volunteer sunflowers everywhere- this one hiding in it's textured leaves..

Frost nipped succulents settling in for a happy summer

Proof we had at least one huge storm!

Successes and failures..

I built a low gate across the driveway and planned to grow chard in the front bed. Alas, it lasted exactly a week...

Chicken carnage..

At least the acorn squash plant seems happy- grow little guy, grow!

Finally, requisite chicken pics of the girls posing on the (shuttered for the season) firepit and literally eating out of my hand. The final pic shows the down side of Jewel being back- a double homicide of mouse and bird.. despite a big honking bell on her collar. Will add more bells when I get a chance to buy them...

My wannabe chicken whisperer..

Bluejay on the right, decapitated mouse head (plus front paws) on the left. Of course, as I typed this I saw a puff of feathers on the front porch out of the corner of my eye. Her brother Toby was the culprit (though the bird got away). Hmm.. maybe I've got a bell on the wrong collar....

Win a few, lose a few..

Hardy hibiscus that's been in the front bed since we moved in. It puts out large red flowers and grows happily with benign neglect..

Unhappily, the chickens have discovered my potted veggies, and devoured the chard and are pulling up my carrots as quickly as possible. I'll rig up some barrier wire tomorrow, but sure hope their eggs are tasty and worth it!!

Replacement chard- I put it in the front yard (where they cannot go). Not the same as growing your own from seed, though!

My narrow leaf senna bush is coming back!! I'd stalled on pulling it up and am glad that I did, even though it feels late. It's a great butterfly plant and will give the back back beds some height..

The Indian Blankets are about to explode in the back back, which makes up for the paltry bluebonnets this spring.

Closeups...

skateboard tableau

Yarrow peeking out

Friendly Gaillardia pulchella

My Meyer lemon blossoms smell amazing. 

Poppy seed heads

Black-eyed susan in the works? I'll know soon..

Houdini amid the Carolina snailseed. I've decided to train it to grow on trellises since it is rampant in the back corner anyway.

Dottie my vegetarian. I think she is the likely culprit for the chard destruction. The other hens dig for worms, she motors thru the greens happily, keeping my grass trim and the clover without leaves. It's a balance, I guess.

Change of scene

Quick trip to Vancouver, weather opposite that of Austin. Everything was green, moist and cold...

Stanley Park was lush, full of hostas (exotic plants here in Austin!), conifers, bee houses, tulips and ducks eating shiny shiny grass...

A pint sized community garden near downtown... Their lettuces are still going strong!

On the walk to Granville Island. After a few days of rain I got blue skies.. 

Street art under an overpass..

Oysters, mussels and clams for sale at the Public Market, an old sea crane, a weathered bouy and some amazing real estate. How'd you like to wake up every morning in those house boats?