Pipe Vine - Aristolochia elegans (Non - Native but interesting!)

This particular plant is included in our yard because it is a host plant for the Pipe Vine Butterfly which prefers to lay its eggs on this plant. The flower reminds me of a musical note and the seed pod a watermelon. Cool!

Meandering Stream and Pond

A sloping yard calls for and demands a stream. My husband, Jerry, just kept stacking the caliche he found here and there. This is no ordinary stream. The water from the upper pond in the yard syphons out and down the stream to the lower ponds. Then it is cycled back up to the main pond. Cool!

All sorts of critters love it. We have seen a green tree frog, toads, lizards, black chinned and ruby throated hummingbirds, a snake, and a myriad of insects all around the stream.

Texas Lantana - Lantana horrida

This Texas Lantana - a great plant if you want to take pictures of butterflies who love it. Bright orange and yellow combine to brighten up any landscape. You will need to cut back in the fall or early spring otherwise it takes care of itself all year long. Harvest seeds easily. Blooms before Rock Rose and Fall Asters. Great bush. Looks lovely planted in front of Yellow Bells Esperanza ( Tecoma stans).

June 24th - I just saw my first Giant Swallowtail in my yard on a Lantana. It was absolutely beautiful. I normally would not have been out in the yard at this time of day . . . 1:00 PM, but my friend and I wanted to take a quick walk to see the beautiful flowers and there it was just sitting of a Lantana on the north side of the house.

Square - bud Primrose - Calyophus drummondianus

This bright yellow evergreen Square - bud Primrose creates a bright spot in your garden. I chose this one to put in the front yard. Not invasive. Low maintenance. However, this plant is not really as nice as I thought it would be. The lower part of the plant is becoming dry and scraggly. Is scraggly a word? Anyway, the bright yellow blossoms are worth it. Put it in a front manicured formal yard . . . maybe not.

Purple Sage, Leucophyllum frutescens

I love this evergreen bush. The perfume coming from this plant just fills the air with a light fragrance. My only regret is that it does not stay in bloom all the time.

A change in the humidity seems to be the catalyst to cause the profuse blooming.

Pink Gaura, Guara lindheimeri

One of my favorite Texas native plants, Pink Gaura , blooms with this exquisite flower. Many people say that these white and pink blossoms perched on top of thin stems resemble fluttering butterflies. I agree.

The root resembles a white carrot. I just dug it up one day to see what it looked like. Just curious.

A very easy plant to grow so far. This plant seemed to stay evergreen throughout the whole year. Some of the others in the yard did not. I am now growing these in the front yard.

Curious happenings with a 2 year old Gaura. One day it just dried up and died. I have not had any problems with this plant. Anyone have any ideas as to why this happened?

Native Backyard Habitat

Interesting? This 2008 backyard habitat brims with over 100 types of Texas native plants. My husband and I desperately wanted to get rid of the water-hogging grass replacing it with plants which require less water.

When the beds in this picture were first created, they looked more like graves than anything else. Creepy to say the least!

Landscaping with the slope of this yard tested one's nerves. Rocks were hauled in to help form the beds and line the meandering stream that winds it's way through and down towards the lower end of the yard.