First Angel Trumpet's Flower

Castor Bean Flowers and Seed Pods

First Butternut Squash Crops

Crape Myrtle Blooming

Bunch of Pigs

Bunch of pigs were on feeding frenzy in the yard one early morning. They were eating clover and ran away reluctantly when they saw us.

Big Heirloom Tomato

The biggest heirloom tomato so far. It started to split so we picked it before it gets worse.

Texas Star

Texas Star Hibiscus is blooming! It's planted on the edge of a pond with its foot underwater. It's been there for three years.

Water Pattern

A pattern of water flowing on ground reminds me of snake skin pattern.

Flood Irrigation

This is what we do to water a field of vegetable.

Pumping water from the creek.

A hose bringing water to the highest end of the garden.

Water flowing following ground contour.

Water flowing along the end of rows.

Small trench dug by hoe to direct the flow of water to area between rows.

A row of squash got water.

Water in between corn rows.

Sprinkler is sometimes also used to rehydrate the foliage.

First Oriental Lily Blooms

This the first oriental lily blooms this year. It's their second year.
Purchased the bulb online from Breck's.

Bicolor Purslane

The blooms of bicolor purslane in a hanging pot. I replace creeping jenny that was in this pot. It wasn't doing good and I am trying to salvage it by moving it to a regular terracotta pot.

Angel Trumpet's Buds

Angel Trumpet (Brugmansia) starts making flower buds. The plants that has been growing in the ground from seeds are about 2 feet / 60cm tall, while those growing in pots are 6 inches / 15 cm tall only. What a difference nutrition from the ground makes.

Mandevillia Upside Down

A fallen mandevillia flower on the ground, upside down but still pretty to look at.

Bougenvillia Put to the Test

Known for its heat and drought resistant, a bougenvillia should do good in our super hot Texas garden. We have two other but they are planted in somewhat shady area and haven't been flourishing. This one is planted in the middle of a field, in a total full sun from dawn till dusk. Let's see how it would do.

Colors on both sides of the fence

from zinnias on left and bougenvillia on right.

With jungle of canna lily on the background.

Coon vs Owl

A coon (raccoon) that has been eating Mr. D's corn got caught in a trap. Mr. D brought it to us thinking that we may want to feed it to Big Al, our resident alligator in the back pond. But Big Al has been out of sight for about 3 weeks now. So we kept the coon for the night in the cage on the front porch and would turn it lose the next day. Right after dark, two big owls came visit and one perched on black walnut tree by the front porch eyeing the coon in the cage. The two owls talked to each other with voices we've never heard before, probably it's their song when they see a prey. I was not sure that an owl could eat a raccoon, but after downloading the picture of the owl and see how big the owl was, I am sure now. Anyway, the owl flew away and the College World Series Baseball between LSU and University of Texas was ongoing so we did not pay anymore attention on this wildlife saga. In the morning, the cage was empty. The coon has escaped.

Raccoon

The owl looking away

Big Al last month

Some more from the garden this morning

Salmon color poppy with bluish veronica.

Orange chrysanthemum blooms start to open.

Third batch of sunflowers - The seedlings by the greenhouse.

They are Valentine and Velvet Queen sunflowers,

one week after sown.

Morning Glory

A heart-shaped leaf of morning glory with a blossom.

The plants have reached over the top of the trellis.

Looking for something to grasp.

It's Four O'Clock Somewhere

First blooms of four o'clock. Pictures were taken in the morning when the spot were still shaded by a black walnut tree.

The following paragraphs are quoted from http://www.desertusa.com/mag00/feb/papr/4oclock.html :

Common Name Showy Four o'clock, Mirabilis multiflora. Mirabilis is from Latin meaning "marvelous" or "wonderful," a reference to the beauty of this plant. Multiflora means "many-flowered" in reference to the numerous flowers that can cloak the plants.

Like the common name indicates, four o'clocks bloom in the late afternoon and are open throughout the night. They may not open exactly at 4:00 p.m. and can open in the morning on cloudy days -- the clouds fool them into thinking it’s later in the afternoon. The flowers release a musky aroma several hours after opening. This attracts hawkmoths, the primary pollinator of these flowers. A hawkmoth can unfurl its long proboscis to suck up nectar that forms at the base of the funnel-shaped flower. In the morning, bees may linger in the floral tube, but they have little to do with pollination. The bees are more after pollen for themselves.

Forgotten Gladiolus

A row of gladiolus in the garden by the creek. They're quite a distance from the house. They had been relocated once from their spot last year due to fence realignment. They have been stepped on by animals, the root has been chewed by underground pests, the blooms blown by winds, but they keep blooming and blooming. Besides regular pollinator i.e. bee, hummingbirds have also been spotted having a drink from these forgotten blossoms.

A Lone Sunflower

A giant sunflower voluntarily grows at the edge of compost pile by an run-down shack. It may not be the tallest but for sure has the biggest leaves of all sunflowers around the garden.