On Wednesday’s I run into work, and I take the bus home.. It’s 5.5 miles. Which is less than a 10k, but for some reason people think what I’m doing is weird. When I’m running I think a lot about what separates my craziness - like excessive gardening and running - from other people’s craziness.

On the way today, right in front of the Metropolis apartments I spied one of my favorite flowers growing wild - Catclaw sensitive briar. It was blooming just fine after being freshly mowed which makes me think it would be a great addition to a patchy bermuda lawn.

I love this plant, but I think it hasn’t caught on for the same reason I haven’t planted it EVERYWHERE - it’s hard to find. I picked mine up at a Wildflower Center plant sale and have been scouring the lists for it again ever since.

After a few years it has begun mounding in my front yard like an Asiatic Jasmine. It also seems to be one of the few things that has stopped nut sedge from spreading. It hasn’t killed it. But it’s not spreading in the areas the briar is thriving. It has those fluffy little blooms, and the leaves curl up when you pet them.

The downside is it’s not evergreen. But you can’t have everything. Anyway, if you find it somewhere please send me a line.

[caption id=“attachment_618” align=“alignnone” width=“625”] Bluestem Pricklypoppy[/caption]

On the way to the bus on Monday I took a photo of this super-cool wildflower. The flower is amazing, even if the stem is a bit too baroque for my taste. I was going to ask my gardening friends about it, but I just got an email from the Wildflower Center highlighting it with “What’s in Bloom Now”.

The stem is very blue, and that yellow puffball in the center is very dramatic.

It’s called Bluestem Pricklypoppy. So now that you know too, you should consider heading over to the Wildflower Center and joining if you haven’t already.

In hopes of actually getting to eat some tomatoes this year I got Stella some pest prevention for her raised bed gardens. Fingers crossed…

Rhett and Junie aren’t intending to knock them down, but they’re also not intending to take their play elsewhere…

Junie doesn’t appear to know how she feels about this fencing to protect new plants from her boisterous games. This is a $50 investment in safety fencing and posts. I’ll update on how it works.

Also Redbuds!

On Facebook Robin of Getting Grounded asked for everyone’s favorite shade perennials. Pam of Digging suggested Pale Leaf Yucca. After looking at her plants and my plants I’m not sure what exactly I have. I got it from my parent-in-law’s land and planted it years ago. But in any case I got motivated to go out and thin that yucca out.

I ended up with four plants where I previously had one.

And seven rather substantial ones to give away. Clearly it needed thinning.

I ended up also cleaning out my lower garden. I think it looks fairly nice at this time of year.

As does the main part of the front yard. I really value having so much structure and color at this time of year, and there’s so much wildlife using the shrubs for cover and picking off seeds.

So here we are on a very bizarre Bloom Day. First off - the blooms!

We had a couple Bluebonnets.

And I found a lone verbena.

But the fear of tomorrows high in the 20s couldn’t keep us inside on this lovely day in the high 60s. So off to the Ladybird Wildflower Center we went.

We improperly operate exercise machines.

Found a sculpture that in other seasons is hidden in tall grass, much like the birds it portrays .

Built a shelter of dubious quality.

And sat on a bench trying to decide where in our yard could accommodate this lovely tree (or three).

The school hasn’t called yet, but it’s looking like we’ll be stuck inside for at least a day this week. But it was nice to get out while we can.

We had a fantastic opportunity drop into our lap. A friend had 3 days reserved at the Chisos Mountain Lodge. So off to Big Bend we went for Christmas. I, of course, drove my family a bit batty taking pictures of plants. It was an amazing trip and I was shocked by the amount of variety. The Pine Woods and Guadalupe River were so different from the more expected desert areas.

I’ve labeled most of what I can. If you know a plant or I’ve mislabeled please leave me a comment!

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This year I actually remembered to bring in my plants. It’s a Christmas miracle!

Etta and I worked together and built this bench. Our friendly elf liked it so much she had to join in on the fun.

Here are the instructions if you’d like to build one of your own.

I already had:

• a hand saw
• a drill
• a large-ish drill bit
• a star drive bit for the lag screws

So at Lowes I purchased:

• 1 6x6x8’ pressure treated beam
• 4 of these bolts
• 4 of these washers
• 1 package of these legs

Once you get it home figure out how long you actually want the beam. Probably not eight feet. We went with about 65 inches. Mark where you want to cut it and then cut with a hand saw. Tedious, but it works.

Mark where you want the legs to sit and mark the holes with a sharpie. These legs are made to attach to a skateboard, but really two bolts on each side is all you need. I did them diagonally, two bolts on each side. Drill pilot holes with a fairly large drill bit, then screw in the bolts with the washer on the outside of the leg.

That’s it!

On December 7th we had real snow in Austin. The fluffy soft stuff. Not just ice. It was a lot of fun for all of us, and a great chance to see the garden in a totally different way.

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We have a yearly Friendsgiving feast. It’s a potluck full of fancy food. Tonight promises the children engaged in an epic Nerf gun battle, plenty of a food, and a nice fire to cap off the evening. It’s hard to believe all the blooms. I went out today and noticed my Mealy BlueWhite Sage blooming. It’s a fantastic temperature and our plans to convert the outside into an extension of our living space is really coming along.

^ Mealy Sage and a lovely agave that was transplanted from the front yard.

^ Outdoor seating looking up at the fire pit.

^ The fire pit looking back at the house.

^ The back of the house including new supports for lights. The plan is to have those supports also support a canvas roof and mosquito netting to make it truly an outside room. The ugly brown box attached to the wall is our outdoor TV. It needs a coat of paint, but we have plans to repaint the house as it is, so it’ll probably happen as part of that project.

And finally please excuse the egg crate hanging in our bedroom window. That was some temporary sound proofing that has become a bit permanent.

One of our projects for this weekend is getting all our succulents re-potted and inside for the winter. 

I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and get to some of your outdoor projects in this lovely weather!