December Flowers...

• mexican heather
• meyer lemon (new addition to the collection)
• pentas
• pineapple sage
• plumbago
• salvia - red
• sugar snap peas (just a few)

Meyer Lemon Tree.

my christmas present to darin. he had mentioned on many occasions that he would like a citrus tree, and meyer lemons are supposed to do well in houston. we will keep it in a pot for easier removal to the garage when we're expecting colder temperatures.

(l - r) flower buds on the lemon tree and tiny baby lemons

since it would have been hard to hide (not to mention wrap) a lemon tree (even a small one) for our holiday drive to arkansas, i left the tree at buchanan's native plants and wrapped an actual lemon to give to darin on christmas day. we picked up the tree today, following our return to houston.

Holiday Hiatus. blogging has been

Holiday Hiatus. blogging has been / will be light for the next week or so due to holiday preparations and celebrations.

Miscellaneous Purchases.

• (2) oxblood lilies (rhodophiala bifida) - planted today at base of front yard oak
• (2) queen's rain lilies (zephyranthes reginae)
• (1) hinckley's columbine (aquilegia hinckleyana)
• (1) red columbine (a. canadensis)
• (1) pennyroyal (mentha pulegium) - planted today in front corner of fig "enclosure"
• (1) sweet lavender (lavandula heterophylla) - planted today in raised veggie / herb bed

Bulb Progress.

my brent and becky's order arrived monday (minus the 25 tulipa altaica which were not available), but i didn't start planting until today. the story thus far:

• crocus tommasinianus^* - (20) in the front yard, around the base of the sycamore; (5) at the foot of the driveway, east side
  
• tulipa turkestanica^* - (17) front yard, around base of sycamore
  
• t. biflora - (12) front yard, around the base of the sycamore; (13) outside edge of the front walk, closest to driveway
  
• t. batalinii "bright gem" - (13) outside edge of front walk, east of t. biflora
  
• t. kolpakowskiana^* -(13) outside edge of front walk, east of t. batalinii

* bulbs already sprouting

Monarch Morning. this morning, as

Monarch Morning. this morning, as i made my rounds through the yard, i spotted a monarch butterfly that had recently emerged from its chrysalis.

Library Books (Bulbs). i went

Library Books (Bulbs). i went to the library today to return a couple of unhelpful iris books (unhelpful because i still don't know what kind of iris i have) and picked up three new books:

• taylor's guide to bulbs: how to select and grow more than 400 summer-hardy and tender bulbs (barbara w. ellis, 2001);
  
• eyewitness garden handbooks bulbs: a photographic guide to more than 500 bulbs by type, size, season of interest, and color (ed. charlotte stock, 1997); and
  
• garden bulbs for the south (scott ogden, 1994)

i've checked the ogden book out before, but want to look at it again; the other two i picked out based on pictures - really amazing pictures of a vast number of flowers.

what i was really looking for was pictures of iris rhizomes / bulbs so that i could try to narrow down the possible identity of my unidentified iris and mystery bulbs. i did find drawings in one book (that i did not check out) that lead me to think i may have siberian or pacific coast iris. more research required (patience, too).

more detailed books reviews to come after i've perused the books for a while.

35... on friday i planted

35... on friday i planted 35 more bulbs:

• (3) "royal fantasy" lilies next to the front door step and (2) by the boxwood in front of the house
  
• (5) "regale" lilies between the ixora on the other side of the boxwood
  
• (12) "petrel" narcissus around the base of the oak in the front yard and (13) between the ixora in front of the house

now, only 25 more narcissus to plant before the last 200 bulbs arrive. i've discovered that it's much easier to plant small bulbs - crocus, species tulips - than large bulbs like narcissus and lilies. definitely something to remember in the future.

Rain Delay. it rained all

Rain Delay. it rained all day, so i haven't planted any more bulbs.

Mosquitoes Must Die. i greatly

Mosquitoes Must Die. i greatly appreciate our mild gulf coast winters. the drawback is that the mosquitoes also appreciate the mild weather. they're still here, albeit in slightly reduced numbers.