Garden Bloggers Bloom Day from Big Bend

I’ve spent the past week in Big Bend Ranch State Park and Big Bend National Park. I wanted to post this on Monday, but Wi-Fi was hard to come by out there.

 

For those of you who have not heard of Big Bend, it is along the Texas/Mexico border along the big bend in the Rio Grande. It takes awhile for most people to get there, it really isn't close to anything, but it's an interesting place to visit. I'll post a few pictures from my trip in the next few days.

 

This is what was blooming there on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Desert Marigold Baileya multiradiata

Wooly Paperflower Psilostrophe tagetina

Tree Tobacco Nicotiana glauca

Yellow Stingbush Eucnide bartonioides

possibly Centaury Centaurium calycosum

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Thanks to May Dreams Garden for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Wordless Wednesday

Playing around with a new IPad app I downloaded today, it’s called ColorSplash.

Garden Walk Buffalo

Jardin Botanico de Quito

If you like these pictures, let me know, but please don’t steal ‘em. If you would like to redistribute photography from this blog, email Houston Garden Girl.

Hawk Sighting

Yesterday, my husband captured this picture from our living room. I’ve never seen a hawk in our neighborhood, either because I haven’t been looking or they are uncommon in the middle of Houston (not sure which).  I used the Backyard Bird Finder from National Geographic to try to identify it. I think it is a young hawk. Possibly a Red-Shouldered Hawk or Cooper’s Hawk. I’m not a bird expert, so if someone knows what bird this is, please let me know.

 

Mercer Plant Swap

I prepared for the swap on Friday night, digging up plants & taking cuttings, part of the time wearing my headlamp since it is getting dark earlier. I loaded the car with plants, extra plastic pots, chips for the potluck, and a chair. Saturday started with an early morning 7-mile run as part of my half-marathon training. After a quick wardrobe change, I was on my way north to Mercer Arboretum. There must have been around 30 swappers there plus friends, children, and spouses.

There is a lingo to the plant swap and there is definitely etiquette. There are what we call pre-trades, these are trades you set up ahead of time with other people, usually through email or message boards. Pre-trades are always kept under your table so everyone knows they are not available. There’s also the orphan pile. It’s usually started toward the end of the swapping. It’s a pile where you put the plants you don’t want to take home with you and it’s a free for all for anyone who wants a few more plants.

There’s great camaraderie at a plant swap and you can always find a new plant that you’ve never heard of, but will grow in your area. Over the years, I’ve come home with several new plants from the swap. Many of them have shown up on a Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Some that I can think of are firespike, pinecone ginger, rock rose, angel trumpet, hibiscus, salvia coccinea, daylilies, clerodendrum bungei, variegated duranta, gold edge duranta, crocosmia, & mexican turk’s cap.

When my garden was smaller I always came home with more plants than I brought, but this year the goal was to come home with less. I decided to do all of my trades as pre-trades this year. Anything else that I brought with me was anyone’s for the asking. I brought home a great selection, some plants that I already have, but want more of as I work on my garden expansion project and a few that are new to me. Some are cuttings, while others are already in pots. I’m sure you’ll see a few of these show up in future GBBD posts.

A big thanks to our swap organizer and support crew! They did a great job as usual!