View From My Window

Here's the view, taken from the breakfast room. We placed the herb bed directly in front of the window where we could see it from the table. Those shiny leaves among the herbs are from the Meyer lemon in a large pot. The yard isn’t that deep, so it’s just a few big steps forward to the tall flowers, with the vegetable garden just out of sight on the left. [From Philo’s chair, he can see the sunflowers and what’s left of his tomato plants.]

The Blue River II Hibiscus, from the first post back in June, are still opening white flowers, one or two a day since the end of May. Last year the hibiscus leaves wilted pathetically, but as the plants become established, they need less water. You might be able to see one Texas Star Hibiscus flower in the middle, with a sprawling Cuphea at its feet. This is the red & violet “bat-faced Cuphea” that so many Austin gardeners have adopted, partly because it’s so pretty, partly for civic pride. A huge bat colony living under the Congress Avenue Bridge has become a tourist attraction, with a small park for bat-watching. All sorts of doodads decorated in bat designs are sold as souvenirs around town.
The blue flowers keep coming on the Salvia guaranitica at the back fence but the Pineapple sage/Salvia elegans, is ‘resting’ right now. Sometimes that concrete birdbath has 6 or 8 white wing doves on the edge. They are one of the goofiest looking birds I’ve ever seen – like cartoon birds.

Along the fence behind the birdbath we’ve planted evergreen Viburnum and a Michelia, hoping they’ll grow and eventually give some winter privacy… and maybe block out the reflection of our neighbors’ metal pool slide. The mini-lights hang around the patio area all year; right now there is a Cypress vine growing along them, planted just for the hummingbirds.

No more blogging for a week – our out-of-state kids will be enduring the hassle of boarding planes so they can be with us for a while – we can’t wait to see them!