"Hot Hot Hot"

Sounds great if you are in Jamacia or Cayman Island and dancing on the beach to the "Hot Hot Hot' Jamacian music, but in South Texas it's a different story.



The yards are burning up from the heat and lack of rain. Most yards are shades of brown with a few little round spots of light green. Under foot is crispy dried grass and cracks to watch out for.



In my little part of the world, where the normal rainfall is 30 inches per year, we have had about 6 inches in the past 12 months.



It rains all around and just taunts us as it goes by.



Needless to say the water hoses are running almost everyday just to keep the flowers and gardens alive. Most outside work is done before 8 AM and after 7 PM, except for the quick trip outside to move the waterhose to the next spot.



One of the best investments I have made are the dog kennels used to make shade houses. I call them my greenhouses, but they don't have plastic, just fabric, so it makes a perfect place for shade loving plants and rooting cuttings. Since it closes securely, you don't need to worry about your pets taking up homestead in them.



If you are interested in making one for yourself: it takes one for the base and 1/2 of another for the roof. I used the thick nylon strapes to hold the roof onto the top. Real technical, right? Whatever works is what I say. Anyway add a shade cloth or use what I used, sheets or fabric. Mine is made where you can fold down the sides to allow air to circulate from the top section while still protecting your tender plants from the wind.



Tomatoes and Bell Peppers do great in this environment. I have several fruit trees that didn't get planted this fall, that are also doing great fruiting.



Pray for rain and enjoy your garden efforts.



Gail

From Lilies to Dillies?

We usually plant those lovely Day Lillies for the beautiful color that they add to our landscape, but pickles?????

I found an old cookbook among my grandmother's things. It has recipes for pickling just about every thing from weeds and flowers to bananas, nuts and just about anything you can imagine. How about some pickled Eel or Caviar?

That's a lot of vinegar! And if you don't have vinegar on hand, don't worry, you can even make your own vinegar.

If you would like to make your own Pickled Day Lilies, here's the recipe:

Day Lily Dillies

2 pounds day lily buds
5 hot red pepper pods
5 cloves garlic
1 quart distilled white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon celery seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed

1. Wash and drain lily buds. Pack neatly in 5 hot, sterilized pint jars.
Put 1 pepper pod and 1 whole garlic clove in each jar.

2. Bring the remaining ingredients to a boil and pour the liquid over the lily buds.
Seal. Process 10 minutes

Makes 5 pints.

,

So if you don't have enough veggies in your garden this year

turn your Lillies into Dillies!!

A Master Gardener Trainee

I am a Master Gardener Trainee....a title I really don't like! Really now, trainee? I guess it's because the word "trainee" holds a sort of less than knowledgeable connotation.

And if I am trainee and "don't know 'nuthin" then is it the same for all the others? I don't think that is the case. I know for me, it's not.

Here is what I DO know:

1. I love my gardens. My body doesn't. In my gardening tool box the most important tool I have is my bottle of Advil.
2. Johnson Grass comes from another planet. It has to. Nothing else on our beautiful planet could grow straight through 8 layers of newspaper, 20 year landscape fabric and 8" of mulch. Either it comes from another planet or it has the same genetic makeup of a 2 year old. Take your pick.
3. Flicking bugs does wonders for stress. Flicking them against a brick wall is even better.
4. Playing music to your plants doesn't work. I've tried. However, it might work if I could figure out how to attach the earphones from my I-pod better. Any tips?
5. The garden center knows my first name. They also know not to ask if the plant I am buying that is identical to the one I bought at a recent visit is one that I just like or if I am using it to replace the one that just died. I heard that their last employee is doing well with her treatment.
6. Brown is a color in my garden. Get over it.
7. I am inherently cheap. I love free mulch, border material, recycled items and plants for the garden. The Master Gardener's class was not cheap. That's ok. I'll make it up with snips and cuttings and seed pods from the natural garden.
8. I do not steal plants. I take advantage of opportunities. That lady's vine was growing over into the right of way. I was just helping to trim it.
9. I also rescue seeds.
10. My husband say's I let plants die. I prefer to think they commit suicide.

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http://papilliongardens.blogspot.com/

New year, new dreams.........

The year 2008 was good for the Jackson County Master Gardeners. We got a lot accomplished. We volunteered more hours in 2008 than we have ever offered before- 2581.75 hours!

We presented a 'check' to the Jackson County Commissioners Court for the amount of $50,369.94. That was what our hours were worth, in terms of dollars. Of course, we didn't actually give them a real check- it was a big 'fake' check, but good for our county anyway.

On January 26, 2009, the Jackson County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to approve a partnership between Jackson County Commissioners Court and Jackson County Master Gardeners to build a demonstration garden at the Old Jail. We have been busy planning and designing the garden to teach about gardening and to share our knowledge of horticulture with the citizens of our county and all who will visit.
This is an ambitious project for our little group, but one we can achieve.

We plan to include a shade garden, ginger garden, butterfly garden, childrens' garden, vegetable garden (to include herbs and fruit as well), a greenhouse, water garden, knot garden, cottage garden/heirloom garden, flowering shrubs and ornamental grass garden. We want to show the many types of pathways, and the many materials that can be well used in a garden. We want our garden to be beautiful and instructive, and we want everyone to know they can have a beautiful garden, regardless of their means.

I can envision school children touring our garden, learning about seeds and seedlings, or planting little acorns to grow into majestic oak trees. Or maybe, because of our vegetable garden, a young mother will learn to grow vegetables to feed her family. We plan to donate the vegetables we grow to the Food Pantry, or to the jail kitchen. Everybody has to eat!

We are so excited about this project, and we just cannot wait to get started with the actual physical building of the garden! We are thankful for our Jackson County Commissioners Court!

Field Trip!

The Field Trip to Fort Bend County Demonstration Gardens turned out to be a really good trip! After worrying about the weather, and whether it would be too hot to have fun, it rained and cooled off for the whole day.

We went to the gardens first. They have a LOT of different and unusual plants. Also a big sign that said to please not pick flowers, nor fruit, nor seeds from the plants. Bummer.....

We also went to Caldwell Nursery, (right down the road- how could we miss it?) and to the Enchanted Forest (also right down the other road). Both places were so friendly, and helpful. We carried home truckloads of plants.

We have lots of pictures, just need a little time to get them edited and sorted and posted.

I wish everybody could have gone on this trip.

You could charge a nickle.....

.....for every little bird who bathed here.

This is another picture of Margaret's pond/fountain. It would not preview on the website for some reason, so I am putting it here, because I think it is very nice. The birds like it too!

Summertime fun

I found this beautiful summer poem and thought it might help make your day. It did me, and it's very well written. Please take the time and ENJOY!

'Summer' A poem by Abigail Elizabeth McIntyre

Summer-
DERN! It's Hot!
The End-

The lovely rock rose

Description

Pavonia lasiopetala is a Texas Native that is extremely drought tolerant, although is does not mind a little water now and then. Texas Rock Rose can be see growing native in the Edwards Plateau, Rio Grande Plains, and the Trans Pecos areas of Texas. The most eye-catching feature of this plant is the Hibiscus-like pink to rose colored flowers. These flowers are generally 1" in diameter and the Rock Rose will stay in bloom from summer till fall. This is a shrub-like perennial that can get woody at the base, it should come back every year if planted South of its native habitat. If planted further North, plant on the South side of a structure and be sure to mulch in the winter to prevent the roots from freezing. To keep this plant in bloom and to prevent legginess it can be trimmed back throughout the growing season. Texas Rock Rose generally only last 3-4 years but will reseed freely and the seedlings can replace the older plants. The flower will open in the morning and will close in the afternoon, blooms can be extended if there is afternoon shade. Pavonia lasiopetala is part of our Plants For Texas® Program, meaning it was Texas Grown, Tested in Texas to perform outstanding for Texas Gardens.

Hardiness: USDA Zones 8-9
Plant Use: Flowering Perennial
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Sun
Water Requirements: Medium to Low

This is growing in the Native Plant Garden. We will have some to offer for sale at our plant sale September 20! Picture and text found at

www.magnoliagardensnursery.com

Workday at the Courthouse

We had people at the courthouse for the weeding this evening. It looks good in the butterfly bed, but we really need to work on the other beds. Lots and lots of trimming, pruning, and whacking back on stuff. Somebody PLEASE call and remind me to bring the flats of iceplant to put under those crepe myrtle trees. I have enough to carpet that whole area, and I just forget to bring them with me!

Thanks Jean Anne, Linda, Sonja and Louise. Enjoyed it!

Janie

J.J. Wants to Know: What Kind of Member Are You?

Forrest Gump said it best…”Life is like a box of chocolates.” Well, Master Gardeners is like a box of chocolates too. We have plain members and filled members.

PLAIN MEMBERS are those who pay their dues, attend their club meetings and try to avoid having to do any extra work to make the organization successful. Plain members see their organization as a social club. They are content to keep things “as-is” and do not embrace change.

FILLED MEMBERS are those who pay their dues, attend their club meetings and do everything they can to help make the organization successful. These members volunteer for committees, plan and show up for workdays, participate in meetings, work plant sales, and share what Master Gardeners has to offer with everyone they meet. Filled members are the heart of our organization!

But, like the most popular candies in the box, it is our filled members who are snapped up by other organizations or have their filling drained because no one else is willing to help!

Remember...we cannot grow with only plain members :-D

Worker-bees get the job done.

The Native Plant Garden looks great!

Thanks, Linda, Peggy, Jackie, and Sonja!

~Janie

Right under our noses....

I shared this rose with my friend in Georgia. She calls it "Bouquet-on-a-stick".
This is 'Grandma's Yellow Rose', the next Texas SuperStar rose. It lived most of it's life as "Nacogdoches", and has been around a long time. For some reason, somebody decided to tag it with a new name- "Grandma's Yellow Rose". I liked the old name better, as do the people in Nacogdoches, but that is another story.

This story is about this very same rose bush living right here, under our noses, in plain sight; have you seen it?

The first time I saw it, my friend Pat and I were in the Church's Fried Chicken place, right there by the WalMart and the Whataburger. We just kind of spied it at the same time, and it was something to take your breath away.

It grows in a small bed between the parking lot of CFC and the feeder road. God waters it; nobody feeds it. It gets pruned when a couple of greedy plant collectors ask for cuttings.

With no care, no interference from anybody, this rose is magnificent. BIG, bold yellow blooms, 6 or 8 at a time, on sturdy canes that make it a fairly compact bush. It blooms almost all year, and I don't think I have ever seen it without a bloom. The foliage is beautiful, clean and dark green. And did I mention the fragrance?

The next time you are over that way, look for this rose. It is the one with the yellow blooms. We don't know what the one that blooms pink-ish/yellow is yet. Might be a 'Peace' rose.....

Janie

Just a bit of history.....

TEXANA, TEXAS. In 1832 Dr. Francis F. Wells and his sister-in-law, Pamelia McNutt Porter, founded a community in south central Jackson County that later developed into Texana. The village was originally named Santa Anna after Antonio López de Santa Anna, at the time a popular Mexican liberal, soldier, and politician. In 1835, however, after Santa Anna had proven himself an enemy of republican government, the residents of the settlement changed the name to Texana. During the Texas Revolution of 1835-36, Texana served as a port of entry and training camp for many volunteers from the United States. Dr. Jack Shackelford's company of Alabama Red Rovers camped around Texana for about two weeks before joining James W. Fannin's command at Goliad. In the spring of 1836 the citizens of Texana joined the Runaway Scrape. "Uncle" Jeff Parson, a slave during the Runaway Scrape, told how the "old town of Texana was abandoned, not an individual was left on Jackson County soil, all were in flight-where they were going no one knew."
After the battle of San Jacinto, when republic officials organized the surrounding area into Jackson County, Texana-one of the oldest American settlements-served as county seat. In the summer of 1836 the Army of the Republic of Texas established Camp Independence on acreage belonging to Sylvanus Hatch about four or five miles from Texana. The next year Camp Independence was the site of the famous duel between Felix Huston and Albert Sidney Johnston. That year also saw a public sale of town lots that encouraged settlement. In 1840 Texana incorporated as a municipality. By 1880 the town had acquired regular steamboat service, mail and stage routes, a booming business section, and its own newspaper, the Clarion. As late as 1882 Texana was a thriving port with as many as twenty ships docking each week. In 1883, however, the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway bypassed the settlement, precipitating a sharp decline. Shortly thereafter county voters elected to make Edna the county seat, and by 1884 Texana was a virtual ghost town.

From "Handbook of Texas Online- Texana, TX"

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/hvt22.html

And now, they built a lake over Texana, and called it Lake Texana. I thought that bit of our history interesting.

I participated in a blog-a-rama type thing a while back, named "Where in the Bloomin' World are You?" This was my response, my ideas about where we live, and the place we now call home. This was back in early spring for us-(maybe the end of January)-thus the cool weather vegetables.

Where in the Bloomin' World are You?

Why, I'm in Texas! The only place for me!

We are in Jackson County, Texas, with Edna being the County Seat, and a hub of activity. We are in the Gulf Coast area, about 90 miles north of Corpus Christi, 100 miles south of Houston, and we can't go much farther east. We are in zone 9a, about 35 miles from Victoria, Texas. This is "Texas Revolution country", and Jackson County was one of the original 23 counties formed in Texas.

We garden year 'round. I am growing veggies right now- cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, onions... Brussels sprouts.....(I hate eating these vegetables, if they are cooked, but I love to watch them grow). I have lots of flower seedlings; Poppy, snapdragon, calendula, sweet peas, viola, pansy, and dianthus are all showing their pretty new foliage. Things are leafing out and putting on buds- a dangerous thing. Peaches for one, are budding, and if we get a freeze, which we could (easily),we will not have fruit this year. My confederate roses are leafing out and they are just gorgeous. I just wish they would wait awhile. Hibiscus is also leafing out. That might die if it gets cold, unless I protect it.

We have nasty black gumbo for soil, but we can grow anything in it. It is among the most fertile of soils, just doesn't have much air in it. Slick when it is wet. Hard like a brick when it is dry. I figure I am going to use some of it to throw some bowls one of these days. Our primary problem with our soil is that it is very alkaline. That is hard to fix.

We have a nice Master Gardener group here, and I am involved in that. We are always doing some project or another. Right now, we are working on a Native Plant garden, with a Rain garden incorporated into it, in partnership with the 4-H kids. It is going to be fun, planting this. Collecting our plants will be fun too.

This is a very rural environment. Even in town, it is 'country'. We don't live in Edna, but in a small community about 10 miles away, if you take the back roads. We do have a post office, where we live, but no mail delivery. We have to go to the post office to collect our mail. It is o.k.

In Edna, we have a WalMart, an HEB grocery store, several florist, Mexican restaurants, Pizza Hut, LOTS of attorneys, about 5 banks, and goodness knows how many churches! Maybe 8 churches? or more. We have a hospital and 3 nursing homes in the county, I think. A lot of doctors (Specialists) come in on a regular basis from Victoria or Houston, or wherever. Beauty shops and barbers, furniture stores, and dentists. We have it all.

Important to me, we have a good hardware/lumber yard that will usually give the big BOX stores a run for their money. I love to buy lumber, and hardware, paint, glue, whatever.....

We are actually almost on the bay, but the way things are laid out, we have to go around about 17 miles to get to the salt water to fish or whatever. That is fine with me. We also have hurricanes around here, too, sometimes, so a little space between us and the water is a good thing.

Lots of ranching, and farming here, so we have good feed stores.

Our county is very generous to us. They maintain a brush site, where we can haul all kinds of refuse, and they grind it up for mulch, which eventually turns into compost that they will load for us, free of charge. We also have a cotton gin close to where I live, (a few blocks) where I can get all the cotton gin trash that my little heart desires. It has been composting there for years, and is BEEutiful!

This is a good place to live. I invite y'all to visit, when you can.

~Janie