Hardware Cloth Basket

Necessity is the mother of invention; Plato

I am not giving up the fight to grow things in my decrepit court yard.  The old Yaupon trees have prodigious roots.  Everything I have put in the ground in the space across from the patio dies because the roots sap all nutrients and crowd out the plant.

I visited a nursery to ask if they might have an idea, besides above ground pots.  The lady there suggested this idea.  I have made one that is in the ground, filled with soil waiting for plants.  This was my trial run to see how hard it would be to do these pots (or baskets).  Not that hard and I am eager to see how they work out.

¼" hardware cloth circle for bottom

Supplies; hardware cloth, scissors, small zip ties

The hardware cloth has an edge on the top and bottom of the length
of the roll.  I made sure the edge is on top and the raw, wire of the cut part are on the bottom.  The wire is very sharp and will snag hands and  clothes.

These florist type scissors have a serrated edge that cuts the wire better than my
wire cutter.

The zip ties are small enough to poke through the wire and tighten.
I am also thinking that I could cut the bottom an inch or so larger and
fold the excess up and fasten that as well.

I experimented with the height and decided on 18".

 I plan to dig a hole and bury it with about 4"
above ground.
I hope the holes are small enough to keep the roots
of the Yaupon from getting AND keep the mole from
tunneling around in there and leaving the open space
which allows air to dry out the roots.

My thinking is that with the basket in the ground,
the soil won't heat up as much as in a pot and won't dry out as fast.

Balmy April and flying insects

We need insects; just not all at once.  Something came to mind................................mosquitoes and gnats.

What I like about the odd warm days in winter.  Warm being relative as 40° in January or March can be lovely.  Mainly, I like being out and sitting quietly without gnats and mosquitoes attacking.  I try to just enjoy the fact that I am not continually swatting the air in the struggle to keep the beasties at bay.

It is only a few more days until May and the swarms are awake and attacking with a vengeance. I can keep the gnats from diving for my eyes with a good pair of safety goggles. All be it, scratched and smudged makes for not too clear view.  Mosquitoes from going for the back of the elbows with long sleeve shirt.  Unfortunately, when the temperature reaches 85+, sweating will require other plans.

It Ain't Over Til It's Over (winter)

 “Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.”
― Sinclair Lewis

 “You need patience to be a good gardener. If you don't have patience, and you stick with gardening, it will teach you patience.” --Bill Turull Jr. as quoted in "People, Places and Plants" magazine, N.E. / N.Y. Edition, Summer 2005



   "Snow was falling,
so much like stars
filling the dark trees
that one could easily imagine
its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.” ― Mary Oliver                                                    

No snow here, but winter returned  in the night.  We had 5 days of 80° weather and wind.  Mother Nature wasn't done with winter. Woke to 31° and clear skies after days of rain and a day of wind.  I did go out to view what I knew would be the scene.  Potted plants that have tender leaves were frozen. The Alyssum looks surprised that it is so cold.  The Bluebonnets are even covered in frost. Not the pretty, delicate touch of frost. The poor California poppy is hit again. This makes the fifth time the plants have been frozen. This is serious stuff.  I will check again later.................................
We have a neighbor who remembers the wonderful peaches we had in 2012 called to see if they had been hit .   

Our spring has come at last with the soft laughter of April suns and shadow of April showers. ~Byron Caldwell Smith, letter to Kate Stephens

Contemplating the sad state of the "Spring" garden, I will remember a damp, rainy, cool day only a few days ago.
I took the Bloggie camera out and searched for more weeds/wildflowers.



(This is a quote from Plants of Texas Rangelands)
There are 14 species and several varieties of wild onions in Texas. These biennial or perennial herbs have strong-scented (odor of garlic/onion), underground bulbs that give rise to long, narrow leaves.
The flowers are arranged in a terminal cluster attached to an unbranched stalk arising from the bulb between the leaves. Flower stalks may be 6 to 20 inches high with blooms of white, yellow, pink, red or purple. In some species, blooms are replaced by bulb lets.

 Don't forget to click 
on the picture to see larger.

These blossoms are about ¼ inch across

 

 These pictures are so pretty that I cannot but admire this little camera.

This bug is so tiny, I didn't even know I captured it.

Bluebonnets in April

In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.  ~Mark Twain

In spite of all the crazy weather extremes this past winter, the Bluebonnets are struttin'  their stuff.

It is raining and cold this morning, not a problem, jacket and boots and Bloggie are out there anyway.

Pretty photogenic, even tho I think Bluebonnets should be Blue

This is odd, early April and there are seed pods on this plant. Oops!  A bee!

There are quite a few plants with leaves like this.  Means something, I just don't know what.

The blossom spike is shorter than usual along with the stunted leaves.

Couldn't resist. Rain drops and my Bloggie are made for photos!

This is the leaf of the "Flanders Poppy".
Several plants have come  up this year.  In odd spots where they weren't even growing in years past.

  As much as I love the flowers, the leaves and plant get so large and dense that they crowd out any other flowers or shade areas so seeds cannot germinate.

I will leave a very few of them alone. Most will have to go the way of all garden weeds.

 This is the garden area I worked on
months ago.  I had taken out the other side intending to let it go to grass. (joke)  Mainly took it out because it was never quite finished and filled with weeds, leaves and made a depressing mess.

The blue bonnets have been coming up scattered all over the property. This stand started and instead of pulling out I decided to let them go.

I

I am happy now that I did.  It is a treat to have bluebonnets so close to the front porch. They are the healthiest of all the stands so far.

The rain drops look like jewels

Don't forget to click on a picture for a larger picture