Wildscape scenes and ANOTHER birdbath

LOTS blooming! Amazon dianthus, fall aster, Texas betony, calylophus, evening primrose, rubeckia, 'Otahal' salvia.

Also oxalis and widow's tears.

Common yarrow and giant coneflower.

'Augusta Duelberg' mealy cup sage, red galena salvia and sedum.

Mexican hats and prairie verbenas that I transplanted.

Inland sea oats and Mexican oregano.

My newest bird bath, another CraigsList find. I made some repairs on the mosaics, but overall it's lovely.

Seeds seeds seeds

I've been gathering bluebonnet seeds from the three volunteers that showed up along our driveway. I toss them in the Meadow in hopes of boosting numbers there next spring. This morning, I walked along the ditch on Greenlawn Parkway and gathered seeds from an old plainsman with guara, Engelmann daisy and Texas stars. They, too, will be tossed in the Meadow. I've love to get gaura and the old plainsman established there.  

An antlion grows up

This interesting gal was spotted on my mandarin tree: an owlfly.

Argiope child

Yesterday, while walking along past the Meadow, I happened to spot what looked like a web in the grass. Yes! An Agriope aurantia baby! And I mean BABY! I believe this is the smallest I've ever seen. So I QUITE excited to see one. I went back this afternoon with my camera and was able to find her. Did the best I could, snapping photos.

Some of what's blooming now

Lindheimer's beebalm

Scarlet clematis (first time to bloom!)

Fall aster

Shasta daisy

Heartleaf skullcap

Indian paintbrush

Prairie verbena that I've transplanted this week.

Can you spot the "bad guy" in the greenthread that's seeding out?*

Mexican hat

* ANSWER: Malta star thistle

Eco experiment

This is how dedicated I am to recycling–I bring home my recyclables whenever I travel. At least, as much as I can, I do. Like this cardboard cup from the Atlanta airport. (My chocolate/cake batter yogurt was DELICIOUS so thought I'd give Freshens Smoothies & Yogurt a plug.)  I was going to drop the container in our recycling bin. Then I noticed that it was compostable. Hmmm. Cool! But why not try an experiment? So two days ago, I took my Ecotainer outside and buried it in our compost pile. I plan to go back out there now and then, dig it up and take update photos. Let's just see how long it takes to start decomposing!

The stick marks the place where I buried the Ecotainer. I'm old; I need reminders. 

MARCH 13, 2015, UPDATE

 Since you asked, here's a photo of my eco cup this month. As you can see, it surfaced from our compost pile. Oh, well. But it does seem to be decomposing.

May 2014 in our Wildscape