Closing Out September

I know that I write every month (almost) that I can’t believe a month has come and gone. And truly, September breezed by. I feel like we were just having a holiday weekend in Galveston for Forest’s birthday and then bam! we’re celebrating Chris’ birthday while camping. Again, I was a bit lacking in the photography department for the garden but such is life. I wasn’t very inspired out there this month.

By the hide of its hair, the Tithonia pulled through from deer browsing this year. I wasn’t sure how it would fare a few times but eventually the brugmansias hid it a bit and the deer avoided chowing.

Late summer and early fall is when the Mexican bush salvia, Salvia leucantha, really starts shining. A rainy and cloudy day provided good lighting to take these photos

One day I noticed a gulf frittilary had managed to walk to the cactus bed and pupate on an yucca. The day it rained I noticed it had eclosed but then I found it dead on the gravel below. My only guess is that it eclosed when it was raining hard and the runoff from the roof swamped it. I felt really bad about that.

One of the newly sown long beans came up variegated!

Can you spot the loofa?

The vine escaped its trellising along the fence and decided to climb the sweetgum behind the garden. Subsequently I have at least two loofa fruits hanging out high in the tree!

Clouded skipper

We had woodstorks on the pond for about two weeks. Briefly last summer we had some on the pond one evening but this was the first time they stuck around for any length of time. I’ve only seen them a handful of times in Texas but saw them regularly when we lived in Florida. Looks like the USFWS downgraded them from endangered to threatened. A really cool bird to have on the pond even if for a short time.

Hiding in plain sight…

Hummingbird season was very active the second and third weeks of the month. They’ve been around since late June in smaller numbers but the numbers increased heavily the last few weeks with migration. Chris was keeping the feeders full and it was mayhem for a bit. And then he didn’t fill them up for a day or two and they main mass moved on. They are still around and we saw some flitting about while camping in east Texas, so they aren’t all gone yet.

Anhinga and roseate spoonbill. The only good thing about the tree debris still being in the pond from Harvey is it has been great bird roosting.

Dino Forest!

My parents came down for a visit a few weeks ago and brought their new dog Duchess. Daisy passed away back in the spring and they swore they weren’t getting dogs again but July came around and they started talking about looking for dogs and before I knew it Duchess was my new ‘sister’! We formally met back in August when we went up for my niece and nephew’s birthday and she’s grown since then. In the top photo she got bit by a fire ant not long before and my dad had to run out and find children’s Benadryl to give her. I was surprised much it swelled up!

Forest’s sad face when my parents left. He didn’t want to tell them goodbye because he thought if he didn’t they wouldn’t leave. Poor kid.

Alright October, let’s turn the humidity down a notch and gimme some of that golden glow that makes October so special!