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..

Who's making breakfast?

New coop, clean and sleek. The pink coop has been happily passed on to a friend starting her own backyard flock...

My biggest hen (Dottie our Cuckoo Maran) has been laying her dark brown eggs reliably..

But the other big girls? 

Yes, but not as often..

Don't think so yet..

And we can't tell which bantam is giving us delicious tiny white eggs..

Raise your wing please..

I am pleased nonetheless. Simple omlettes with salt and fresh pepper in the morning.. Yum!

Here and there..

Back from a trip to Alaska, all rain, moss and salt water... In Austin the yard is scorched, but I can still find spots of green and color. The big coop is complete, and more ladies are laying, leading to breakfast yumminess..

Wet...

Glaciers in the distance in Resurrection Bay

Watching salmon jump upstream in the Russian River

Snacking on salmon caught and smoked by my father-in-law at a campfire in Homer..

Lakeside marshlands..

Moss on a car- results of the temperate rain forest..

Moss and texture

Wild fungi everywhere

Driftwood puzzles..

Dry...

Cenizo blooms holding on a bit longer..

Geranium and transplanted pineapple top brighting up the shade

Ignored and in a dry box of afternoon light, this flame acanthus is stubborn and resilient (will plant a drift of them in the ground this fall..)

The back of the addition which has transitioned from bare post-contruction dust, to wildflower haven, and now an arid buffalo and wire grass corner..

Succulents peeking out from an asparagus plant..

Yummy..

Kudos to variety- eggs from my Cuckoo Maran, Catalana, Wyandotte and English Sussex

Speckled egg from a speckled hen?

Busy bee

At first I thought it was just a fly, but no..

It's a Metallic Green Native bee, Augochlora species..

I've also spied a few cardinals eating the chicken scratch, along with the usual doves..

My non-natives are doing well- the new bantams are settling in and enjoy melon seeds immensely..

The big girls continue to scratch (and fertilize!) the back..

Only my carrots (previously decimated by the girls above) have underperformed. After weeks of looking the same, I pulled them up to discover that the biggest only grew to the size of my thumbnail..

It is a good thing I don't have to survive off these!

Flash of color..

Passionflower vine, looking like a Mardi Gras costume.. I actually don't know if this larger one bears fruit- I have a smaller leaved vine that grows amid my oregano and coral honeysuckle that puts out bright red tiny passionfruits. They are smaller than the ones I grew up eating in El Salvador (we called them grenadillas). The Salvadoran ones were sized like small maracas and we'd sit around the dining table scooping out their sweet tart seeds with spoons.. My youngest likes to eat the ones we have here (as do the birds, which is probably why I have so many volunteers!). I'll be curious to see if the chickens like them, too...

Speaking of which..

Psst.. the chicken lady let us out this evening. We loved the worms we found, but got spooked by that big Silver Wyandotte head chicken that pecked at us a few times.. 

Birds with no name..

Americaunas or Easter Eggers? When I can get my kids to focus, I'll give them names. It was a Craigslist thing, finding bantams that lay blue eggs. I couldn't help myself. These are the last ones, I swear..

Foliage follow up- Buffalo grass is established in the xeriscape back. This picture is after weeding and trimming for all of a Sunday afternoon! My Mexican plums are thumbnail sized- what will they taste like? And can I remember what name of Texas sage this is??