more pics from around the yard...

Well, last Monday, my day off... I was out in the yard working and decided I'd take some pics of what's happening out there... The M. sonorensis v. craigii is just starting to bloom... Click on that link to see the whole plant and other stuff about it... This is one of the plants that I was really worried about. I didn't think it was going to make it through the winter, but it managed, although there is some dammage visible on the plant. I'm not gonna worry about it too much, I don't look as good as I used to either. We call it character.

Now, some of you may remember this plant from the absolute worst packing job ever...

This is one of five that I got in the mail... this one was outside to test hardiness, while the other 5 stayed inside for the winter. I really really thought I lost this one... after the last snow, I checked him, and the center growing tip was dark, almost black. I figured rot had set in. Turns out, not so much. He's just fine.

And the Yucca aloifolia... is blooming too... 2 stalks are up and open, and 1 is just starting out. Remarkable things aren't they?

And that's about it...

Yes... I'm still alive!

Sorry I haven't been posing for a while... the truth is that my life hasn't been all that fun lately...

You see, I've been working 6 day weeks. 4 days driving the dang truck and 2 days at the flea market... except it isn't really two days as much as it is 1 1/2 days, because I go to church on Sunday morning, and then go directly to the flea market... but what it all boils down to is that my only day off is Monday, and I have to do everything (ie: laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, etc.) on Monday, and, quite frankly, thsi schedule is not really working out all that well for me.

But, when I left the house this morning, I was bound and determined I was gonna find something to take a picture of...

Here's a house in Ft. Worth... (Yes, I'm taking pics of other peoples front yards. I justify this by telling myself I'm looking for gardening ideas.) These Agaves scattered over the front lawn look kinda cool... but I don't know that I want to do this in my yard... quite frankly, I can think of better ways to spend my time in the garden than weed-eating around agaves...

This is one of Ft Worths street trees... more specifically a Yucca aloifolia... you see a few of these in the area... but this is the only one I know planted by the city... and it had to have been planted quite a while ago, as it's now about 15 feet tall... quite possibly the largest one I've seen locally...

And this is just one of those rocks that you see by driveways in shopping centers. The purpose is to keep cars off the lawn. Of course, they also tend to turn minor roadway accidents into major ones, but that's a whole other arguement... the only reason I was really interested in this lump of sandstone is because if you look really-really close....

you'll see this...

I have no bloody idea how that echeveria got there.

The entire landscaping in this shopping center consists of small strips of grass and these huge rocks and this single, solitary clump of echeveria.

It's very puzzling.

Anyway... I hope everybody out in blogland is doing well... have a great day!

Spanish bayonets...

I've had this plant, Yucca aloifolia, better known as Spanish Bayonet for about 10 years in my back alley... It's one of the first succulents that I planted. The plant was origionally a huge root with no leaves that someone was discarding and I salvaged... without knowing exactly what it was. Luckily, I planted it in the alley, against the fence and a good 8 feet from the roadway. This is lucky, because it is a dangerous plant, they don't call it bayonet for nothing. Those stiff leaves are each adorned with a single spine that can inflict a painful gouge right through a leather coat... not a plant that you want too close to where people are trying to walk.
I got the first blooms about 4 years after I planted it, and I've come to rely on it as a very dependable barometer of when spring has arrived. When these bloom, it's safe to plant outside.

Currently, it's 4 trunks, the tallest at six feet, the shortest at 4. We're in the northernmost reach of it's range, so I'm pretty sure that I won't get the 20 foot tall trunks that the plants can develop further south, but I'm hoping for 10 feet or so eventually... When it reaches it's maximum height, it'll fall over. Then the growing tip will turn to point up and it'll continue growing, with more plants growing up from the roots... Eventually, they can form dense, inpenatrable thickets.