March 29, 2004
More Heron Pics
Click on the links below for more photos:
View image-3
View image-4
View image-5
View image-6
March 28, 2004
Night Heron
Yesterday we were working out in the yard, when we looked up and saw two yellow-crowned night heron up in one of our trees! They spent the night in our yard and next door, and they are still out there this morning. It's gray and overcast today, and it's hard to get the digital camera to cooperate -- the trees are pretty tall, and the heron are about 25-30 feet up there. If they are still here this afternoon, I'll try again with (hopefully) better light.
Anole
I had a lizard living in a 22" pot where I'm trying to grow potatoes (my first attempt). The pot is not filled all the way with dirt; instead, as the plant grows I pile more compost around it. When I went to water the other day, I saw that the lizard was still there, and that he was evidently trapped: the walls of the plastic pot were too smooth for him to get a foothold. I put a big stick inside the pot, and within two minutes the little lizard was out and on his way.
Fennel
Fennel plants that were left in the ground over the winter are looking beautiful right now. Fennel is a perennial in North Texas. The bulbs are good roasted or in salads or pasta dishes, but it also makes a beautiful ornamental.
Carolina Jessamine
Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is in full bloom now. This perennial is an early-spring bloomer here in North Texas, and will keep its highly fragrant (but poisonous!) flowers for probably another month.
March 25, 2004
AOGC Meeting 03/25
Meeting tonight at 7 pm in the Bob Duncan Community Center, Vandergriff Park, 2800 S. Center St., Arlington.
Tonight's topic: Coppell Community Garden
March 18, 2004
Cowtown Gourd Patch
Meets Tuesday, April 6, 2004, 6:00 p.m., at The Rig Restaurant in Fort Worth, on IH-35 South at the Alta Mesa exit.
You may purchase dinner, participate in meeting, and win door prizes.
(Meets 1st Tuesday of ecah month January through October, 6:30 p.m.)
March 12, 2004
Mexican Plum
If you're outside this time of year and notice a beautiful floral smell, but don't have any flowers blooming, look around for a Mexican Plum. This tree grows as an understory plant in wooded areas, and is sometimes planted in the landscape too.
March 09, 2004
Vultures
In West Arlington, along Green Oaks north of Lamar, vultures gather on the electrical tower every evening around sunset. Around 4 pm you won't see a single bird, but as the sun sets the tower will be completely covered with them.
It's hard to get a decent photograph because I can't get very close to the tower, and of course it's beginning to get dark before the birds show up.
I don't know if these are black vultures or turkey vultures . . . both have been spotted by bird watchers at the nearby Village Creek Drying Beds.
March 07, 2004
Compost Pile
I turned my compost pile this afternoon -- probably the only time I will do so this year. I don't turn it often, so it doesn't decompose very quickly. My pile is mostly oak leaves and kitchen scraps, with some occassional rabbit manure and potted plants that can't take my sporadic watering schedule. 
For this reason, I don't include weeds that seed in the pile: it doesn't get hot enough to kill them. I usually have useable material only once per year: I harvest the compost in October just before I fill the pile back up with the autumn's leaves.
Because I have a relatively cold compost pile, there is lots of life inside. Today I found a potato plant growing in the pile (complete with itty bitty potatoes!), and an avocado seed that is trying to grow. Several years ago, I added red wiggler worms to the pile. I won't find them there when the weather gets hot and dry, but we've had plenty of rain so far this year and they are thriving. The photo shows a bunch I found hanging out among the coffee filters -- must be the rare Eisenia fetida Starbuckius!
Getting Ready for Plant Sale
Leopard plants (left, background) and chocolate plants (left, foreground) have over-wintered in my greenhouse for this summer's plant sale. After watering all winter, and with limited air circulation, I had noticed fungus gnats in the soil last weekend. . . the natural remedy for these is to let the soil dry out a bit to make the location inhabitable to these creatures. Another natural remedy has appeared as well: a spider has set up residence between the plants' stalks -- I love it when nature takes care of things for me!
The plant sale is part of our Natural Urban Living Garden Show, which will take place on June 19.
Japanese Kerria
Getting a few more flowers on the kerria now, although they are still pretty sparse. Soon the overall bush should be full and pretty, but right now it's still a few lonely yellow pom-poms on leggy green sticks. This one's got a little spider hiding in it.
Dogwoods and Redbuds are Budding
These guys aren't in bloom yet, but they will be soon.
