The deer were loving it.

There were maybe twenty, when I first looked out.

Several ran away, when I walked outside.

They came and went all day.

This morning, you can see how much they ate.

Those leaves must taste good.

Walking around yesterday, I saw no other limb damage.

Maybe it wasn't wind. Maybe this limb was just ready to break.

Luckily, nobody was hurt.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Well...we made it to May.

Bet you didn't think you'd hear from me so soon.

The night after my last post,

showing you all the work and pretty iris,

we had quite a storm.

At 3:00 in the morning.

What is it with 3:00 in the morning, for storms here?

Like Halloween, it seems to be some kind of cosmic signal.

Anyway...

It hailed...

Not huge hail...but, larger than we liked.

(the wine cork was the closest thing I had, for scale. 

That was really good wine, on our cruise.)

The worse part was the wind.

Reports are, we had gusts to 60 or 70 mph.

It tried to pull up the windmill.

We've had 60 mph here before,

and the windmill never budged.

It brought down some good sized limbs here.

And, just generally made a mess.

More clean up!

How lucky can a girl get?

We were really lucky, though.

No real damage.

But, it did do some damage next door.

Giant limbs, from two different trees, came crashing down.

It landed on the AC unit. Didn't do it much good.

But, even then, they were lucky.

It missed the roof, and the car in the driveway.

It wasn't long before people arrived with equipment,

and before evening, those limbs were firewood and mulch.

There were the sounds of chainsaws all over the neighborhood.

But, I haven't heard of any injuries or big damage.

We were all lucky, here.

The storm kept going, creating much more damage.

I hope none of you were in it's path.

Stay Safe...

~~Linda~~

We've been busy around here,

taking down the holidays, and getting back to normal...

or what we call normal.

One busy chore we've had is seeds.

Millions and millions of seeds.

You see, we live under a lot of Cedar Elms.

Usually, I'm whining about all the leaves.  Usually, the fall brings TONS of

LEAVES.

We sweep them up and pile them in the beds as mulch and in the compost bin...

which is really a 'leaf rotting' bin.  

The deer don't leave green stuff in there long enough to compost. 

Yeah, I know...we could wire it off...but....

Anyway...the trees also have seeds. Those seeds usually fall in October.

Not this year.

This year they started falling in late November.

And, we have a bumper crop.

They can't be put in the beds or compost.

All of those seeds will turn into little Cedar Elms.

Millions and millions of Cedar Elms.

We'll have enough that will have to be dug up, 

just from the ones that fall into the beds.

So, we sweep them up and carry them to the Deer Grove.

The deer like them, and so do the squirrels.

Those in these photos fell in one day.

That's the porch and deck.

Didn't get a photo of the driveway...

But, it's almost over.

We'll have a short leaf break, and then the Live Oaks will start

doing their thing.

I still love the trees...

*****************

By the way...

Can you believe January is almost half over?

Me either...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

We've been on a trip.

A 5,042 mile trip.

Montana

I took LOTS of photos....sometimes through a not-so-clean windshield.

Wyoming

We drove through areas where snow gets pretty deep.

The above natural 'snow fences', are prettier than the giant wooden ones

along much of the highways up there.

While we were gone, there was some rain.

And, some wind.  

The top of one tree fell onto limbs of another and they came

crashing down.  How it missed the bottle tree, I don't know.

The tree guy came out and took care of it.

This is the tree that was hit by lightning a few years ago.

It needed some trimming back at the top.

We were going to have this done when we got back.

It's a 'trash tree'...a Chinaberry...but, it helps shade the porch.

We trust this tree guy.  He thinks it'll be ok.

The new fenced area really grew.

The Lantana really took off.  And, took over this bed.

Hmmm....maybe I need more room.

The Hyacinth Bean on the veggie fence really took off, too.

Maybe that's why nothing much else than weeds, are doing

well there.  Between the vines and the ever growing

Live Oaks on the other side, there is more and more shade.

There is a lot of clean-up to do.

We missed the 'sawdust' pollen fall of the Cedar Elms.

Well....there was that clean-up.

Now, we have the seed fall.

Leaves will be right behind.

We had a busy weekend.

Out of town guests, football and soccer games 

and, a concert in San Antonio.

St. Mary's Lake, Glacier NP

So, I'm just going to sit at my computer and edit photos.

The clean-up will still be there, when I get to it.

Those pesky garden fairies never show up.

I'll show you some more beautiful scenery soon.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

WOO HOO!!

We got some rain.

About one and a quarter inch.

And, more forecast.

After a slow start, Spring has finally shown up here.

And, things are greening up.

We won't have to fill birdbaths, for a day or two.

But, we'll have to clean up washed away mulch.

And, there are still these lovely little trees..grrr...to dig up.

And, this rain will probably bring out more.

They may have to wait.  It's time for the annual 'Girls' Trip'.

This year, we're headed to the beach.

Not to worry.  They'll be there, when I get back.

Mr P. is in charge of keeping things alive, while I'm gone.

Til later...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Sometimes, it seems like we have just TWO seasons here.

One...the fall....when the Cedar Elm leaves fall.

And, Spring...when the Live Oaks lose their leaves.

Then, we have these.  I call them Brown Squiggleys.

Officially they are Live Oak Pollen Catkins.

Catkins....sounds so sweet, doesn't it?

They're NOT.

They cover everything.

They fill in between rocks, making it hard to brush out.

They STICK to the fur of  little white dogs....who by the way, LOVES to roll around in them.

And, as an added bonus this year, we have all the little Cedar Elms coming up.

Above is the front bed, which has been cleaned out...twice...and mulched.

It hasn't deterred more from appearing.

My mother's hoe has come in handy.  I'm not sure how old this is.  It's been around as long as 

I can remember.  But, it still works.

If you get the roots turned over, they die.

Some places are harder to get at.  I've poured some boiling water on these.

That works pretty well.  We'll see if more come up.

I got this weapon tool, for chopping around places I don't want other roots disturbed.

So, that's what's been going on here.  

After we get the leaves and the brown...uh, Catkins...cleaned up, and all 

the Cedar Elms dug up and REdug up, THEN we can put down new mulch.

Ah...a gardener's work is never done.

And...while I'm whining...we have ANOTHER cold front here.

Tonight is supposed to be low 40s in town.

That could mean 30s here.

THIS IS MAY, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!  

Some of the plants here are very confused.

And, so is this gardener.

Back to hoeing and raking. 

Until later...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

So, just recently I was having fun pulling weeds in the veggie garden.

It was a normal HOT summer day....with a bit of humidity.

{Don't you love doing those chores on days like that?}

So, I took a short break, for a some water and to catch my breath.

This is where I do that.

Like every area here, this has a name.  It's the Garden Grove....because it's by the Veggie Garden.

Looking up into the Live Oaks trees above my head, I saw this.

Looking closely, you see these little bead kind of things.

There are thousands of them in the Live Oaks around here.

They're almost pretty.  But, I knew they weren't normal.  

So, I did some research.

I found some information at the Texas A&M Agrilife Extension site.

Seems this is Gall, and it's caused by insects.  Probably a type of wasp.
Wow!  There must have been a swarm, that we didn't see.

According to this site:


"....gall on oaks typically do not kill an established oak.
If galls are localized or limited, it is possible to remove the galls for aesthetic purposes.
Otherwise, do not worry too much about it."

I read one other thing that said it occurs more often on trees that are stressed.

The trees around here have been really stressed, from the drought.

I worry a lot about the trees.  They're one of the big reasons we love this place.

But, looks like I don't have to lose sleep over this one.

Back to pulling weeds.

Say...why is it, weeds grow so well, when other things are just barely hanging on?

Another garden mystery.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~