So many amazing creatures come to a garden when you provide food/plants, shelter and water. Every day there seems to be a new addition to the array of the weird and wonderful. Here are just a few:

A Hairy caterpillar chowing down on Coral Honeysuckle leaves. Isn’t’ he just beautiful? I mean, just look at those colors:

A Red-striped Ribbon snake:

Excellent swimmers these guys are. Streaking through the water and hiding under overhanging rocks. Unfortunately they eat my lizards and frogs in the pond, but I ask you: Who could be mad at a face like this?

Black swallowtail caterpillars chowing down on my fennel. What a great plant this is. Smells amazing in the garden, great for cooking, and vigorous enough to endure the eager munching of the many swallowtail caterpillars we had in the bush.

A Green Anole hanging out in the Turks cap. Pretty little fella even though he is not native. He was spotted right after a gentle drenching afternoon rain shower. I suspect he enjoyed the humidity and the bugs it brought out.There’s more to come I am sure. This place keeps on surprising me with ever new critters.

Last fall was just plain awesome, with just enough rainy days to keep some flowers blooming for the birds and bees, and refreshingly cool for working outside and not being burned to death by summer heat.

Wandering around, there is a certain peaceful charm to the wintery field out back. The rusty red flower stalks of Little Bluestem grasses stay on the plant all winter long, making for colorful contrast on gloomy, misty days. I find this view so peaceful. Squirrel and dove peacefully searching for food while a gentle mist soaks into the ground.

The leaves have begun to turn on the Cannas and Mexican Buckeye near the pond. The waterlily growth has slowed down as it is prone to do in fall. Every week we have to pull out the faded bloom stalks and leaves so that they don’t rot in the pond. As more pond surface becomes bare of leaves and blooms you can really feel the slowing down of nature as it prepares for winter. The autumn colors are beautiful. Even the lawn has turned a mild orangey color.

In contrast, just a couple of weeks later and the pond looks decidedly more gloomy, as most plant life has gone dormant and the leaves have long since fallen to the ground, where they will break down and become soil and nutrients for the next growing season.

Behind the cowboy fence the Little bluestem grass is still glowing with its pretty flower stalks. I won’t be mowing that down till mid to late January. Cucumbers and tomatoes in the veggie garden have long since gone to sleep after working so hard this summer.

Winter was mild and wet except for 2 very cold days that killed off just about every tender leaf and twig. But the Robins did not seem to mind. They returned in huge numbers very early in January and we caught them picking berries from our hollies and plucking unsuspecting earthworms from the grassy fields outside. Their early morning calls are just a wonderful welcome change. Other birds were of note this year too.

Bluebird pairs were scoping out nest boxes for the upcoming nesting season. It is hard to see but the male has a caterpillar in his beak. Doesn’t look like he wants to share that with the Misses though, regardless of the keen interest she’s showing.

Ever faithful Cardinals stay with us year long and it’s always nice to hear their call ramping up in spring.

The beautifully marked Northern Flickers are common winter visitors. They faithfully visit the birdbaths and have done so for 6 years. They migrate back up north as the weather here heats up. Can’t say I blame them.

The yellow bellied woodpecker is a year round fixture in these parts. Their calls are ever present sounds in the garden  announcing their arrival at bird feeders. These are large birds and send other birds scattering in all directions as they swoop down onto feeders. As it gets warmer, colorful days greet us, with blooming trees and shrubs to entice us to wander around, discovering new things every day.

Butterflies arrive almost immediately, to take advantage of early bloomers like this Hairstreak butterfly on Jethro Tull Coreopsis in the front garden.

Wasps and flies, searching for nectar seem grateful for early blooming Blackhaw Viburnum’s white blooms on warm spring days. These plants are wonderful additions to any wildlife garden, providing pollen and nectar very early in the year and then blue berries for the birds in the fall. You won’t catch opportunistic Hairstreak butterflies missing out on this delicious snack either.

One easily gets distracted on these nature walk, as is the case with the appearance of this huge Raft Spider in the pond. You’ll find them sitting patiently on a floating leaves, resting their front legs on the water’s surface which allows them to feel for vibrations of potential prey. Using the water’s surface tension, they chase out onto the water to catch their prey, which includes aquatic insects, tadpoles and even small fish! They can even dive underwater to escape potential danger. We often see them warily watching us as we wade through the water on pond cleaning days.

Moving along, the front field greets the spring wanderer with delicate blooms of the Eve’s necklace tree. And Mexican Buckeye, which has not leafed out yet is ablaze with lacy, pink blooms that are adored by bees, moths and butterflies of every species alike.

Bluebonnets are bursting out so early this year to the surprise of everyone, even this curious Roadrunner. He’s probably looking for lizards and juicy beetles hiding in that  bushy, blue mound.

The front garden has Bluebonnets too. They soften the damage done to my agave. This is the result of deer rubbing their antlers against it in fall. Grrr…  It will take a long time to recover from this, but it makes for a very formidable picture.

As the weather warms up birds are much more active, singing and chasing potential mates and building nests in bushes and trees. All this activity requires more food as this cardinal would like to remind me, pointedly standing on an empty suet feeder.

Mockingbirds build nests relatively low in a tree or bush. This one is trying to make friends with a new type of bird it seems.

In the side garden the cowboy fence looks so pretty surrounded by bluebonnets and poppies. And the irises are doing the early April show as usual.The pond so bleak just a few weeks  before, has lost it’s wintery gloom, showing signs of fresh green life, while still very empty of waterlily activity. It will take some time to grow new roots and leaves after we had repotted them a week earlier.

What an adventure the seasons are. All you need to do to find some excitement is wander in the garden. Never a dull moment as life changes daily.

Soon the sun will be blazing from the sky as bright, if not brighter than this Engelman’s Daisy, chasing the curious wanderer back inside to the cool reprieve of shade and the most welcomed air-conditioner. It’s important to enjoy the moments as you wander along your path. Things change so quickly.

With the festive season finally behind us, I have a bit of time to spend on my garden and blogging again. We’ve really had a mild winter so far, but it is only the beginning of January and the cold is sure to come. Fall was very pretty this year, thanks to all the rainfall. Native grasses have seeded out in supreme abundance, keeping all my favorite birds away from my bird feeders. I miss them, but I hear them out there in the garden so I know they are around feasting on the native flora that I meticulously planted for them. My wildlife garden is working!

Bluebirds have been seen picking and choosing around my 4 bird houses this year. Not sure if they are picking winter roosting boxes or summer breeding boxes. Perhaps a little bit of both? They always give me such hope and joy.

The pond always starts to look straggly in November, but the colors are so warm.

Pond maintenance keeps on going till the water is too cold to dive into and the tubs in which we collect the wilted flowers and water lily leaves keep drifting away with the wind. Frogs like to get in on the action too, finding the tubs great viewing towers after we leave things to settle.Native plants are at their tallest this time of year and even Kokopelli had to shrug off a pushy Canna leaf, finding him almost buried in plants.

Look at the Cannas still blooming!

But shadows are getting deeper and shade is getting cooler. Thankfully….

It is the ideal time to plant hardy perennials, shrubs and trees.

Bees and butterflies are at their most active this time of year it seems.To my surprise, the bees really loved the Mexican Bird of Paradise.

We have so many migrant butterflies move through Texas that it is a wonder. While the birds may not be visible this time of year, the air is alive with hundreds of colorful fluttering wings. They are in search of any nectar baring blooms while the temps stay warm.

Gulf Fritilaries enjoying the Zinnia which have self seeded in my veggie garden.

This pearl crescent butterfly is a common visitor in fall. Their larvae like to feed on Aster plants. As adults they seem to adore my copper canyon daisy.

Christmas came early this year. Red and green was prominent around the garden: Red ornamental flowers still hanging from the Turks Cap.

Pigeon berry and American beautyberry providing colorful nutrition for the birds.

And the ever reliable and hardy Aster sneaking through the crevice to catch some sun.

Well it is the new year and I wish you all have a hope and beauty filled year ahead.

Ah, what a summer we’ve had. Hot, stinking hot! But then also wet occationally. Which is a good thing around here. A full 2 inches in August. Unheard of and what a blessing for us, the trees, plants and critters. The grasses including the pesky and invasive King Ranch Bleustem (which I just don’t know how to control in my field), were growing like gangbusters. It gave me a wonderful reprieve from the weekly watering of my  newly planted 11 trees. A little vacation of sorts.

Speaking of vacation, we went on a short visit to Galveston Island right after school started. Found a cute little house right on the ocean. Ahhhhhh, long evening walks on the beach with a nice glass of red wine, dog playing in the surf and sniffing all the crab holes. Lazy mornings listening to the waves in bed.It was absolute bliss! No crowds, lots of sun, surf, boogie boarding and relaxation. I actually almost cried when we had to leave.

Most days we had a little rain, which helped to keep some wildflowers blooming for our stay. One day there was this dramatic storm just off the coast. It was extremely intriguing to watch…with a little red wine of course.

Once back at home, Sadie had her best pal Kali visiting while her humans were away. What a wonderful playtime they had. They’re like doggie bookends here. Although Sadie hates her picture taken – always managing to pull a face or turn away – I was able to catch a relatively nice one of her next to Kali who really should have been a doggie supermodel!

Back in the garden, the wildlife certainly did not take a vacation. Giant swallowtail caterpillar noshing on my grapefruit tree. I saw two actually. I don’t mind the minor damage they do. They only eat a couple of leaves and the plant doesn’t seem to care. Look at that giant grapefruit growing on the bottom right. Soon it will be nom, nom, gone – by us!

Really does look like birdie poop doesn’t it? Great camouflage!

Their adult cousin – the Black Swallowtail – was nectaring on a nearby Pride of Barbados. It’s a family affair around here.

It was hot though, and my bees found my little water planter to bring some moisture back to their hive. What a bunch of cute butts! Why do bees always find the stinkiest looking water so delicious? I wasn’t about to taste it to find out!

Moving right along to the rock garden out front, the Rock Rose and Yellow Bells are just lovely together.

And out back, a thirsty fox family came to visit too. Mama was very thirsty, taking some laps from the bird bath while junior checked out the yard. I was wondering why that birdbath kept getting so low every morning…

A quick glance at the pond reveals some sunshine from its cool depths.

And on the patio I just had to stop to admire the ornamental oregano in its delicate beauty. Hello my lovely.

The morning glories next to it were so vibrant this year.

Wandering to the front of the house the Texas sage was just too pleased with all the rain and simply exploded with glee. The bees were delighted with their new found bounty.

On a final note, lets leave with a glowing warm shot. Summer may be over, but the memories are sweet. Critters love the Pride of Barbados. See the little green lynx spider hanging out in the center of this Pride of Barbados bloom?

And a Sulfur butterfly nectaring below.Although I’m enjoying the cool autumn air, I will miss these critters soon as they migrate southward. How was your summer this year?

I bought a lotus about 3 years ago. People told me that it was super hard to propagate since they were so finicky and that it would not do well in full sun and that I had to shield it from the stark midday rays. And indeed they seemed to be right. It did not do well in my mostly full sun pond. So, I moved the container to a little corner of the pond with lots of deep shade in the morning. It seemed to do ok for a little while before going dormant for the winter.A couple of months later in late winter I could not find it in that dark corner of the pond. When I hauled the container out of the pond it ended up being empty. 🙁 The lotus seemed to have gone. All that was in there was that pesky weedy aquatic grass and some snails. I was pretty disappointing really. I had spent a lot of money on that plant. Oh well, I thought, I have a lovely pond with lots of water lilies, so what.

Well by mid spring I was singing a different tune of amazement and surprise when I saw the first sprouts of lotus leaves surface in that dark corner of the pond. What??? Where was this coming from? I had all the intentions of investigating this mystery further but life got busy and I didn’t get a chance to look. By the end of summer I had lovely lotus blooms all over that corner of the pond. Well it turns out it had spread it’s tuberous ‘wings’ to everywhere there happened to be some pond muck at the bottom of the pond and that corner seemingly had a LOT of it.

Well this year we have 2 lotus plants. One where I had taken an offset from the escaped lotus and planted it with my Texas star. I didn’t think that would take off either because at the beginning of the year all I saw was a rotting tuber sticking out of the container. I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. I guess propagating lotus plants IS very hard. Hah! not so fast nature answered back. Not one month later, there appeared from that same container 3 huge leaves, and not too long after that not one but two stunning flower heads.

2 lotus blooms and a waterlily in the middle

Now I warn anybody that buys a lotus that they had better watch out, they are so vigorous that you may want to keep an eye on them overtaking your entire pond.

They are lovely though. Such a delicate looking flower.

It is a mystery that such a strong, beautiful plant springs up from the murkiest and stinkiest muddy depths of a body of water. (Yes there are sections in my pond that probably fit that description.)

The petals change color as the bloom opens and matures: Appearing from the watery depths, a tight green bundle serves as a valuable perch for a dragonfly keeping cool and hunting in the midday sun…..to a pretty baby pink as it starts to bud and open…..,

turning toward yellow and ….

finally to white before …..

it fades away. But not before grabbing our attention with an alien looking seed head just before being swallowed by the water once again.

Wildlife has some use for it too, it seems:

A dragon fly gets to use his seed head megaphone.

Bees visit it for it’s nectar.

And frogs worship it from their pad.

But what a majestic beauty it is in full bloom with the Texas star from the dining room window,or even just sneaking a peak out from behind the red Canna.