Time to move or transplant!!

Well, this is the perfect time of the year to transplant!  Of course, AFTER the rain quits for today!!  Remember that crepe myrtle that the previous owner planted in the wrong place (not enough sunshine during the day) or those rose bushes that are still in their buckets because you cannot figure out where to put them?  Well, now is the time!

So, here's how it looks:

November - Very best month to transplant
December - 2nd best month
January - 3rd best month
 and so on...

The problem is that this is when the rain starts and it gets cold outside and who wants to go and dig in the ground when the holidays are just around the corner!?!

Just lettin' you know, that's all!

And down came the rain...

So, I see that it's now raining that slow steady rain that makes you want to curl up with a book and some hot chocolate...

Welcome to North Texas in the fall!

Fall in North Texas - 50 degrees and chilly!

Brrrrr - I have never figured out why it's so cold in Texas when it's just 50 degrees out!  Maybe it's because that's when it's overcast and rain is threatening - particularly at this time of year.

Gone is yesterday's sunshine and bright cheery day!  Today is yucky and gray and who wants to go outside?!

Plus -- no mosquitoes outside!  Yeah!!!

My post for November 1st - a day late!

Today (November 1st) was absolutely beautiful - sunny and warm and a nice breeze blowing!  I was admiring my begonias who are still blooming beautifully, as well as my mums.

However, Neil Sperry (Texas' expert gardener) says that one must dig up/throw out the begonias to make room for the pansies and my most favorite flowers - the little Johnny Jump-ups!!  Miniature pansies - little violas!  But, now is the time to buy them and plant them.  They need time to "weatherize" over the winter months and they will be so beautiful next Spring.  But, if you wait until January or February to buy them?  They will wilt and die at the first ice storm that we get.  They need to develop good roots and get used to the cold gradually -- from this point on!

So, go buy your pansies (and little violas) and plant, plant, plant them!  I've posted a photo of mine, but haven't decided which pot of begonias I'm going to give the boot to...  It's so difficult to throw away living plants! LOL!

Remember your daffodils, as well.  Now is the time to put those bulbs in the ground!  On sunny days like this, for sure!

Vibrant 4 o'clock flowers - seeds, anyone!??

When I was growing up in the sandhills of New Mexico (little town of Corrales - just north of Albuquerque), I remember that my mom grew some 4 o'clock flowers!  I don't remember them being very tall or even how many years we had them... I just remember that I've always wanted to have some of my own. 

A few years back, a friend of mine gave me a few seedlings from her yard.  And, now I have LOTS of these flowers growing and blooming in my garden!  They would take it over - given the opportunity.  However, they have the most beautiful fragrance and I am a sucker for anything that perfumes the air!  So... each year, they populate a new corner of my (already) small backyard garden.
This year, I am harvesting the seeds.  Perhaps that way I will avoid the little seedlings that pop up everywhere in the Spring??  If you are interested in me sending you a handful of the seeds, be sure to let me know.  Send me a comment and let me know if you want some.  You, too, can have these prolific plants growing and blooming and perfuming the air -- in just one season!

Butterflies are gone...

I am sad...  The butterflies have gone where?  Further south?  More than likely.  The winds have kicked up even more today and they definitely have a "northern" bite to them!  I absolutely love this weather!  My favorite holidays are all coming up and Mother Nature is getting ready to sleep for a period of time.

Just like us - there are parts of us that can lie dormant for awhile and then, re-emerge in all of their glory.  Nature teaches us that there are seasons to everything.

If I saw my butterflies every season of the year, they'd become a sort of ho-hum sort of thing.  But, since I see them just a few weeks in the Spring and sometimes in the Summer, and these glorious weeks in the Fall, it is like a gift that I know is on its way, but never sure just "when" it will get here! 

A lone honeybee was buzzing around my spider's wort this morning.  I wonder if he knows where home is.  I don't know where they come from to visit my garden or where they go -- but I've been delighted to provide them with nectar!  More flowers to plant next year to feed more honeybees!

Leaves beginning to fall

Well, it looks like the official "fall" is on its way!  My mulberry tree is dropping leaves with every strong gust of wind that comes through here this morning and early afternoon.  It's overcast with a temp about 73 degrees, and rain on its way.  If I'm going out in the yard to work on my compost pile, I'd better get it done soon!