Strange things happen when it rains ...

roselee z8b S.W. Texas

10 years ago

Strange things happen when it rains.

Small tanks move across the yard in early morning hours ...

Huge dragon flies appear out of nowhere ...

Lord Baltimore hardy hibiscus comes alive ...

Young maidens come bearing small pots as succulent blooms rise to greet her ...

Monster ants threaten small frogs perched on pads of colorful bubbles. ...

Large frogs leap into small birdbaths ...

The white orchid tree blooms as never before ...
{{gwi:280026}}

See all the buds? There's many more blooms to come ...

Blissful garden angels open their wings wide to receive more miraculous drops of water from the sky ..

Bob looks out the bedroom window to see a praying Madonna instead of the columnar cactus ...

Yes, rain brings about miraculous changes in our yards. Nonetheless, as space becomes available succulents are planted in place of thirsty tropicals ...

Hasn't it been fun seeing how our gardens grow and blossom with some rain and cool temperatures? But I'm glad to be doing the makeover to more drought and heat loving plants because, as we are soon to be reminded, this is Texas after all. We've had a wonderfully long cool wet spring, but temperatures of 102 degrees are predicted for next week.

Thanks to all who are posting pictures of your yards. Looking at them is one of my favorite things to do.

Happy gardening!

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Comments (13)

carrie751
10 years ago
Beautiful, as always, Roselee...............love walking through you garden with you.
rcnaylor
10 years ago
Thanks for sharing some of the beauty of all your hard work!
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rhill3
10 years ago
Roselee, It is beautiful!
sunnysa
10 years ago
Roselee, It's all so interesting. Where ever do you get your lawn scuptures? I love your praying Madonna! Did you train it to grow that way? Your orchid blooms are so much larger than our tiny pink ones. Do you know the name of your variety? Ok, as DH so often reminds me, that's too many questions, lol. Thanks so much for the post.
Vulture61
10 years ago
Cool!

Omar
ruthz
10 years ago
Beautiful, as always.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
10 years ago
Thank you all for looking!

Sunnysa (Irene if I remember correctly?) I don't mind questions at all. The white orchid tree is Bauhinia forficata: Brazilian Orchid Tree. You don't see it much in nurseries, but maybe that will change with our climate getting warmer. Some sites rate it's hardiness to z. 11 and some to z. 9. When it was young I covered it with two quilts and wrapped the trunk during a hard freeze, Now I do nothing. It's also called the 'insulin tree' and the leaves are made into a tea for diabetes and other ailments. You can read about it online.

The Madonna image on the columnar cactus passed along by Tally is natural, but my husband said I didn't take the picture at the best angle. I'm tempted to notch the head portion to look more like a silhouette. Should I?

As for garden art I've had a lot of years to collect plus many have been gifts. Also I've been very fortunate in finding some things at garage sales in my own block. Recently a dear friend who is anticipating a move gave me some of the pieces pictured above for which I am very grateful. There are more that she gave me that I'll post about someday.
sunnysa
10 years ago
Roselee, it is all so very pretty. Thanks for the name of your orchid tree. The Madonna is perfect as is. It looks so natural. Your garden art is charming. I can't wait to see the rest of it.
dachsylady
9 years ago
Roselee, I have looked for that angel bird bath for years. Would you tell me where you purchased it?
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
9 years ago
Dachsylady, I bought the angel birdbath at Walmart quite a few years ago. But I'm pretty sure you can still get one at Fraziers Concrete which is located a few miles from Brenham, Texas. It is worth a drive to go there. They have acres and acres of beautiful statuary; much more than shows on their website.

Plus they are wonderful people to deal with. Since they have the mold they could make it for you if they don't happen to have it in stock. The one that my friend purchased from them is larger than mine pictured above.

Good luck! Let us know if you are able to get one from them.
dachsylady
9 years ago
Thank you Roselee!
ingridjill
9 years ago
beautiful pictures, thank you for sharing, looks like eden!! question, what are the grasses in the left center in the first picture? i don't grow any as i get so confused as there are so many! i am in dallas, fyi.
roselee z8b S.W. Texas
Original Author
9 years ago
Ingridjill, thank you. The grass in the left center is Crystal ruby grass. It's an annual most years, but usually seeds itself around. The seedlings can be transplanted to where you want them.

My favorite grass is Little Bunny Dwarf Fountain Grass shown on the right of the first picture. It's perennial, blooms very early to very late in the year and is tolerant of most any conditions, but loves full hot sun. It's hardy zone 5 to 9 so should do well in Dallas.

I love how easy it is to put links in our posts with Houzz. I never knew how to do it before.

Happy gardening!

Strange things happen when it rains ...

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carrie751

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