Red Flowers and More

Lauren

Oh yeah, I forgot.

Out of bloom out of mind, I guess.

I also forgot about the blue flowered Salvia gaurenetica, the dark purple May Night salvias, and the red flowered fire spike and dwarf bottlebrush. And so, and I say this full aware of the absurdity of it, the ONLY flower color I don’t actually have in the back garden as I was talking about on the last post is peach. Peach… literally one of my favorite flower colors. Sigh. What ya gonna do, man. What ya gonna do.

Last week we did the thing you’re not supposed to do- literally the thing they use as an example- and got a beach house with friends. They’ve been careful, we’ve been careful, the house had a private pool and we used a remote beach access and were never too close to other people. And yet… considering how much metallic phallic shaped and sperm shaped confetti we found left over from the bachelorette party that was held in the house in the days before we got there… I have to question if the cleaning of surfaces of invisible viruses was up to snuff if they missed all the highly visible confetti. We cleaned up ourselves as best we could, but sheesh. What’s worse- the virus risk or our friend’s 5 year-old continually finding sperm confetti and announcing she found another “worm?”

We’re now 8 days past the start of that short vacation so we all seem to have made it through okay, but we’ll be staying at home for most of the next… however long the dumpster fire of infection we got going on in Texas lasts.

On that front it’s quite bad- our town just went mandatory masks, which just means a ton of idiots are going to be printing out and laminating these to try to get out of it:

I hate people sometimes, I really do.

Needless to say I hope businesses ask to see the cards and then nail them up over the registers like bartenders do with fake IDs and then kick them out, but I doubt it.

Since when did someone’s freedom to cough on another person supersede their obligation to protect their fellow man? What in the hell god damn dystopian upside-down are we living in?

I am REALLY enjoying all the videos of racists who then get fired for their behavior though… so that’s something.

Back in the garden things really have their legs under them and we’re still getting the occasional bit of rain, so we’re in peak garden season. There are lots of little vignettes in the garden I like right now- here are a few:

The newly transplanted bunny foot grass is sending up seed heads.
the cactus and newly transplanted plumeria. I took the plumeria cuttings from my father-in-law’s tree, it’s newly transplanted from a much too small pot, hence the support. (The prickly pear is just being a jerk and throwing up too much top growth for it’s root system- hence it’s support. The column cactus is doing just fine without any support and will hopefully be a good example for the other jerks.
The corner to beat, but it’s gonna be hard to top this area, honestly. That fern-leaf lavender is going GANGBUSTERS.

The garden isn’t merely aesthetic though, it’s homestead-esqueness is also on display/production.

Better lead off with the wheat if I’m gonna talk urban homestead I guess… This all came from one seed head, so I’ll be saving some to plant next year and then will grind some for bread in the blender. Washington’s wheat for the win!
One day’s tomato haul
The next day’s tomato haul. I was too busy picking tomatoes to pick up that blanket.
The sesame plant is now 3′ tall and has lovely snapdragon blooms
My fear I wouldn’t be able to harvest enough sesame seeds from one plant has been allayed by the size and profusion of seed pods along the stem. Also I just planted 5 more.
The cinderella pumpkin that came up on it’s own from the composted one has overtaken the Triangle bed… and I could not be more thrilled!
Coffee cup for scale of the leaf size and because I had to put it somewhere while I took the picture.
I am so excited!
Then there are these idiots… sitting on the Key Lime tree pot, all the cool kids are doing it.

In other, non food production related garden activities:

Not pictured is the sod we put in the front yard- but it was a whole pallet’s worth between this section by the back gate and the front. May I never install sod again in my life. Amen.

While installing the new BBQ area my husband found ANOTHER Texas mouse spider.

Obviously not the same as the last one as this one is lighter in color.

Here’s what a post on them says:

Mouse Spiders are rarely found in Texas but they are worth noting as they do have a more dangerous bite than most other species.

Grrreeeaaatttt….

This one didn’t get picked up by hand. Unlike the last one…

It got dropped over the fence at the abandoned house to hopefully find it’s mate and never ever ever come back to our yard.

I also learned they make 3′ deep burrows. And that they’re quite dangerous.

Eep.

And yet… live and let live, right? (YOU HEAR THAT, MOUSE SPIDERS? Live. And. Let. Live.)

In other news the Godzilla dust storm from the Sahara is here. My husband and I were outside as it rolled in. It got hazy and I was plastered with grit instantly- it got in my eyes and I was wiping it off of my skin. It blew in along with rain that day- so we had to make a run for the house to escape both the grit and the huge raindrops that came with it. The rain hasn’t knocked it out of the air though, it still looked like this yesterday:

That hill isn’t far away. Under normal conditions it would be as bright green as the foreground.

My husband and I worked outside for a number of hours yesterday and I started not feeling well in the evening. My chest was a bit achey, I was tired, and I was coughing. “Goodby family, I have loved you so!”

Turns out I was only tired from working in the heat and the rest of the symptoms were from the dust… it isn’t recommended to be out and working in it which of course makes sense. I feel better today.

And lastly, my desk fish Minnie (a female betta) went to the fish bowl in the sky after a good two year run.

She was named Minnie both because she was little and because she looked a hell of a lot like a minnow.

She’s been replaced by Mr. Pink, who is much showier.

It was a toss up between him and a solid red one. I’m happy with my choice.

Stay safe out there from viruses, idiots, dust storms, and mouse spiders.

7 thoughts on “Red Flowers and More”

  1. In all the time I’ve been on this Earth, I have never considered where sesame seeds come from! Can’t wait to see photos of how they come out of the pod. You are such a great gardener, Dear Niece.
    Val C.

  2. I’d have a hard time deciding which of those things to avoid is the worst. We’ve been hearing how bad it is in Texas (and some other states). Stay safe!

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