May 11 , 2022
Fleeting Flowers, Long Term Friends, and Foes
Is it just me or did spring seem to rip past us faster than usual ? Sure , every winter we ’re collapse with anticipation like kids before a birthday , and then before we know it , the “ present tense ” are in the past . For week , I watched my pale - folio yucca ( Yucca pallida ) shoot up a bloom stalk , congeal bud , and unfurl creamy bell flowers that tempt a squeeze . Then in a simple week , those prized little balloons absolutely deflated . My consolation : They ’ll do it again next twelvemonth , since yuccas do n’t die after blooming like some agaves . Datura ( jimsonweed ) flower are even more fleeting , lasting only a day . Then they curl up themselves back up to set a rotund bristly seeded player pod . Since it will pump out blossom all summer for pollinating moths and bat by night , the show will carry on . Last year I plant passed - along seeds in a enceinte container . The original plant returned this spring , along with slew of niggling one . Do note that every part of this plant is poisonous to hoi polloi and ducky !
Maybe bounce seemed especially short - live because wildflowers arrived late and heat showed up ahead of time . In a sunny curbside garden , bluebonnets familiar with sprawling yellow calylophus , a aboriginal perennial also called solid bud primula . The bluebonnets are going to seed and calyophus will cease blooming presently . But native perennial mealy gentle sage — beloved by bees , butterfly , and hummingbird — will go on flowering until winter , taking a break in summer ’s heat . A few week ago , rainwater lily — our nativeCooperia pedunculata — dotted median and landing field after our long - look pelting shower . Since these bulb multiply and also sprinkle cum to inhabit other spots , we ’ll greet them again . It ’s such a heartbreak when care crews prematurely mow them ( or bluebonnet ) to stubs . Now here ’s an invasive weed that you DO require to pull or mop before it form seed head ! This isTorilis arvensis , commonly call cow parsley or hedge Petroselinum crispum due to its similar leaves . The flowers do feed pollinator , but its bur - same seeds grab a ride on your air-sleeve , glove , wildlife , and pets to distribute undesirable riches . It ’s no duck soup to get them off , either , especially if you have a curly - haired blackguard .
aboriginal repeated loose - flowered penstemon ( Penstemon ‘ laxiflorus ’ ) beckons hummingbird , bee , and butterflies . fade quickly in this early heat , its tidy ground - hugging foliage accents summer - blossom plant . On our strolls the past few workweek , we ’ve been treat to such dulcet fragrances ! In late April , native anacacho orchid ( Bauhinia lunarioides ) assemble zealous new fans with its graceful lines , tiny pea plant - like leaves and saucer shaped flowers . A bush or multi - trunked small Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , anacacho orchid tree expect dear drainage . It can suffer in rough wintertime , so deliberate planting on a Dixieland - facing wall or even along a street like this one . My Louisiana iris has been a dainty this time of year since a sort nurseryman carve up his years ago . late , I move this container to a more prominent positioning and flummox the gazing bollock on top to complement purple heart below . I ’ll separate the various irises into more desirable position . Soon , native coralberry will fill the right side but depart way for my late plantings ofSalvia guaranitica . On the left , silver - tonedMexican honeysucklemissed its bound bloom , so I ’ll look forward to its flame orangeness flower spikes this summer . I completely neglect my fragrant rose ‘ Maggie ’ reigning over an afternoon red-hot spot against the chemical chain link fence . But that ’s part of its inheritance . WhenWilliam Welch , Texas A&M Professor and Extension Horticulturist , discovered it in Louisiana at a family residence and pick out cuttings , it had survived just fine on its own for generations in burial site and old homesteads .
I ’ve been hearing about Kern ’s prime beetles eating rose flowers rather of just pollenate them ( like on Jo Diser ’s briary pear flowers).Susan Snyder and Mark Hathaway have never seen them in theirartistic food and flower backyard , but you sure ca n’t neglect them now . When CTG chitchat the wondrous garden created by Andrew Ong and Jared Goza , they demonstrate us their hack to protect fragrant rose mean for cut : yield final bags!When the heat come on betimes , I countenance this thistle bolt of lightning ( go to seed ) , an inviolable invitation to works - sucking aphid pests . Since we only get beneficial ladybugs if we offer them a repast , it ’s nature ’s way to maintain a predator / prey balance . And certainly enough , a “ loveliness”—a group of ladybugs — fly in for a alimentation fest . If your ladybugs need a help hand , simply blast the aphids with the hose . Adding to the natural predator - prey balance , ichneumon wasps dropped by to parasitize aphids by laying their egg on them , and to feed on aphid secretions , honeydew melon . Thanks for stopping by ! Linda
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