Life in the Garden: Early September 2014

The garden is in its summer dormancy now in early September.  There are not many birds or bugs to find in my yard so I thought I would post this picture of a pregnant Mediterranean gecko that I took back in July to add some interest to this blog post.  My daughter found her on the back porch, turned her over and wow - look what we saw!  Eggs!  I think she is about ready to lay them.  This is also a good picture of her feet - they are perfectly designed for climbing vertically up walls.

The rest of the pictures were taken the first week of September. 2014

The Vitex is still blooming and attracting Bumble bees.

My husband found a very small nest in the Trumpet vine yesterday.  We think it is a hummingbird nest based on the size alone.  We are not sure though.  The bird used toilet paper as nesting material - our house was TP'd this summer and we couldn't reach the top branches to get it all down.

We have way too many grasshoppers around here this time of year - ughh

We planted a Bur oak tree in the front yard in 2004.  It was a 3 gallon size and about 5-6 feet tall.   The tree is at least 25 feet tall now.  Bur oaks will reach a height of 60-70 feet.  See link for more information on this beautiful oak.  https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/quercusmacrocarpa.htm

Bur oaks are known for their large acorns.  Here is a green one.

Up in the tree.   Note how the leaves of the tree in the front yard have some kind of blight. 

The Bur oak leaves on the tree in the back yard look healthier.  They are very wide and chunky looking.

We also have a couple of Shumard Red oaks in our yard.  They are also about the same age and size as bur oaks.  They will reach 50-60 feet in height.  See link for more information.  https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/natives/quercusshumardii.htm

 The Shumard red oak leaves have a thinner pattern.

The Shumard red oak acorns are much smaller than bur oak acorns.

About the only blooms we have around here now are on the Althea shrubs, also known as Rose of Sharon.  These flowers attract hummingbirds.

This time of year the Paper wasps are building huge nests.  We found this one on out back porch that will have to be knocked down.  See all the larvae in the nest? 

And finally - I haven't seen many birds around here this week except for the yacking (see their open beaks?) house sparrows visiting my back porch for a drink from the dog waterer.