Butterfly birth!

We can't say we saw the entire mystery of their birth from start to finish. They landed, as Fate would have it, on the butterfly bush, and ate every single leaf off of that plant.



There were eight of them.


But then, as suddenly as they had appeared...


...they disappeared.


We thought they had packed up their hobo bags for greener pastures.


Until today, when, purely by chance, we found one, looking rather different from our last encounter:


I swear I had watered that amaryllis nearly everyday this past week and never saw that magical little butterfly in her golden castle, not even once.




Before we could figure out logistics to get a plate of fruit out for this marvellous creature, s/he had flown up to the gutter, rested and stretched for a half minute, and then taken off - paddling in the air, until we couldn't see any longer.


Best birthday ever. Happy birthday, monarch.

May Blooms

In order to avoid the apparent exasperation my better half of 11 years seems to feel with my forgetfulness, I'm using this blog to document what's blooming when. Spring is such an exciting time - especially this spring, as we've had such true, spring-like weather. I rather like to think that Winter found Spring - and they started chatting - and Winter decided that s/he really didn't want to leave...but something finally convinced her. Maybe the Sun.

So. Here's what's in bloom in early May at the Coahuila Garden: Paradise is! Our infinitesimally small bit of it, anyway. In the fruit and veg. (err, and legume) department, you'd never guess what these classic little black and white flirts are:



No idea? Fava bean flowers! Remember them little plants (scroll down)? Who would have thought these flowers would be so very simple and yet completely marvellous?

Sugar snap peas have been growing strong:


And the pomegranate is covered in bright waxy reds reminiscent of Christmas:

Elsewhere, we have some wild and free things doing their thing, so beautifully, in the back corner by the Gate to Elsewhere:




Lantana's about to launch into months and months of flowers:


Oh Dill. We do heart you, and we hope the insects will, too!


We picked up a few of these hybrid Gaillardia plants on sale at Lowe's. They've been a bit thirsty of late, but that might be just because they're not used to where they're at. Grand and sweet things:


Out front, in the courtyard, the Lenten Rose is still holding on to its spent blooms, with just one tiny one poking through the base of one of the two plants:


Jacobinia, a new plant for us, is starting to show us what's what:


After acclimating to her new environment, the Mexican Flame Vine is starting to do fancy fancy here, along one of the front courtyard walls:


Just like a little prayer to the sun:


Just outside the courtyard, African Iris is still blooming:


Tiny nasturtiums suddenly started to bloom a few weeks ago:


Here's one of my tiny favourite places, with wild pink Oxalis and Salvia in the front bed:


The pink guara we bought from Cornelius Nursery seems to be doing well here, too, teeny though she still is:


I saved my favourite for last. Beneath the (Texas native) Bald Cypres tree in the back is a bed of Blue-black salvias. More than just colour, which is striking in and of itself, look at how delicate and graceful the stalks are:




And then -


I hope you find your way to Arcadia today!

When humanity fails, Nature restores

The Waterboys | The Stolen Child by W. B. Yates
[audio mp3="http://coahuilagarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/12_the_stolen_child.mp3"][/audio]

Funk happens. What's a garden lover to do? Take Yates's advice:

Come away, O human child!
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

On a day like this, would that we could be just as perfect as anything here, large or small:



Unassuming...





Unimportant (to most)...





And yet, completely capable of transforming an empty heart into one filled with rapture...





So, despite humanity's constant failing, why not live to spread the word - to tell the tale of such loveliness?



Why not live to see all this splendour? And hope -



...that others too will walk with you somehow and see it?



Just see a little bit of what you see -



Frozen, though it may be.



These exquisite little creatures



Took me, today, thankfully (gratefully)



Out of myself, and into



the meadows -



with a slim, shy angel on wings -



And then, into the forest



Not yet sullied, and green as it wanted to be; as it chose to be:



With friendly hints of something I knew:



And when I left, I carried some of it with me, in my senses yes and under my skin, but also on everything I had unwittingly touched.



With Yates' lines of poetry, still ringing in my ears:

For he comes, the human child
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand
From a world more full of weeping than he can understand

Hi-lites of late Pt. 3: Gosh-darned beautiful plants

So very many things are happening in the garden now, it's becoming difficult to document them all. "Ha," - Mother Nature says - "I haven't even gotten started yet. Just you wait."

Well, we've waited all winter! And, it has been a long winter. We'll be ready!

One note: I was beyond happy to find the Lenten Rose - Hellebore - at Cornelius Nursery a few weeks ago. I'm a huge fan of Carol Klein's Life in a Cottage Garden Series which aired 2 or so years ago, which is how I got to know about, and fell in love with, Hellebore. I hope the two plants do well here, in hot and humid and unforgiving Texas-in-the-Summer.

[gallery link="file" ids="371,355,368,369,370,367,366,365,363,358,357,356,353,322,379"]

Garden Hymn | A basket of Plums
[audio m4a="http://coahuilagarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/2-06-Garden-Hymn.m4a"][/audio]

Isn't this Arcadia now?

Hi-lites of late Pt. 2: A bit of Arcadia for birds

We have been more than fortunate to have seen at least 13 different sorts of birds since moving into our home 6 months ago. 

Here is a beautiful brother, a red-winged blackbird. You can hear his lovely song here, via Birdnote, amongst other marsh birds. Sweet, isn't it?



Arcadia is just one birdsong away! See you there.

Hi-lites of late Pt. 1: Oh, Orange Tree!

We've been working hard out at the Coahuila garden and have made some progress with projects that we hope will fare well as we enjoy a (brief?) East Texas Spring. Most recently, Satsuma is doing well (thanks to great advice from our wonderful neighbor Steve W. - Thanks, Steve!) She was here, by the side of the garage, rather shaded by the oak trees above:

[caption id="attachment_315" align="alignnone" width="500"] Satsuma orange, against the back of the garage, left hand side.[/caption]

Not the best place for a sun-loving citrus. So, we bit our lips, dug a big hole next to the pomegranate, and dug up the Satsuma last Sunday when it was thankfully cool. We powdered her roots with rooting hormone, padded her down with soil and compost, mulched her with leaves and gave her a good drink. We placed her up against the Eastern fence, right next to the small pile of compost you see here:

[caption id="attachment_316" align="alignnone" width="500"] Satsuma's new home to-be, not far from the pomegranate plant on the left hand side.[/caption]

We were told to water the Satsuma everyday, which we did. Some of tender new growth did not fare well - but, wonder of all wonders, the majority of the tiny, new leaves recovered. We're still holding our breath a little bit because we're not sure whether the flower buds will open. We're optimistic: it's been five days, and the buds still feel plump and solid. Satsuma! We hope you recover from your shock! We promise, you'll love your relocation.

[caption id="attachment_317" align="alignnone" width="500"] Happy to be home, we hope![/caption]