"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Thursday, June 12, 2014

I have found that trying to raise wildflowers..........is much like raising children


I adore all wildflowers because of their various and unique features...........
and they grow abundantly on the grounds, but not close enough, I feel,  for my flower beds........

so  I am constantly digging them up from the space they want to stay in........
and transplanting them close to my home......smothering them with care and affection......
just like a mother pulls her child from a place that he is interested in to keep him close,

and just like a child........the wildflowers prefer to be left alone and let to choose their own space and surroundings. 
and after awhile, I begin to understand........and let them be........
sigh



the woods are beginning to get overgrown from all of the rains and looking at them, 
one might think that nothing is there.......but overgrown brush.........
but come with me...........take a look..........

at a glance this is nothing but a scraggly and unkempt bush ........


but any scraggly lady still  loves her jewels.....
and this Texas native is adorned in colorful berries. 

The yucca is also thorny and plain during some months......
but in early spring.........

they have a heavy hairdo of blossoms............

which turn into large pods.........

and then dry, open up, and spill out hundreds of seed.

More beautiful wildflowers have found the perfect spot to bloom.......

and wild vines cling and grow up an old mesquite tree that is also covered in moss.

Sophie has spied something........

a thorny headed , horned toad.......
in the middle of it's  "ant lunch"

(click on photos for a better view)
and it looks as if it is wanting us to go away.

out of the woods and into a little more tame part of yard,
the pumpkin vines are starting to get those big ear leaves that I love.........

and my grandmother's Lantana  is blooming in the garden,
happy that I planted it there. 



14 comments:

Hill Top Post said...

I love these walks with you...so much to see and enjoy!

Nancy J said...

Lantana, that takes me back to more years than I would like to admit, my Mum had a hedge of it on our farm, in the 1940"s!!! And your Yucca, here they are nursery bought plants, I love those creamy flowers that are so high on the tall stem, perfect against grey undergrowth. Looks like more flowers will be coming out your way very soon. Cheers.Jean

Dawn said...

I am hoping to have a small wilflower medow, I keep seeing pictures of them and they are stunning, I have a Yucca in the garden it flowers are stunning.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Wildflowers have ideas of their own as to where they want to grow. I love the blanket flower in your first picture. I do have that in my garden and it has spread around to different areas of the garden, which is fine by me.

You have some interesting flowering plants and that horned toad is something else.

Your Lantana blooms are pretty.

Have a great weekend ~ FlowerLady

Dreaming of Vintage said...

Hi Kathleen! I love wildflowers too, but the same thing happens to me. I dig it up, plant it where I want it to be and it has a temper tantrum! Wish I could wake up and look at the prairie in my backyard, but unfortunately I have to look at a yucky golf course. ICK! Yearning for the days when I could live in the country.

Connie said...

Wonderful post, Kathleen! I always enjoy seeing what is growing and what critters are around your home. Thank you for sharing. :)

Debra said...

Beautiful post-and you're so right about moving plants! I have held their little hands and urged many to flower in other places-only to find they were stubborn, and would grow where they wanted! I just love your bush with the red berries, and of course, the toad!

Sally said...

Love your wildflowers. If I could, I'd have them all over the yard.

You have a very nice blog, and I'll add you to my friends that I visit! :)

Lady Jane said...

I leave pretty much the garden as is but a lot don't grow well where I put it, lol, and then I move the little darlings... Oh well... I love your wild flowers and your animals! I grow yucca up north but I have to protect it during our harsh and cold winters. It is a joy to visit you.

Three Sheep Studio said...

I enjoyed taking this walk with you. So many beautiful things to see.
That toad is amazing and scary looking at the same time !
Rose

Sherri Farley said...

There is such beauty in nature. Sometimes where we least expect it!
I always love your critter photos.

A Colorful World said...

Oh, what a lovely post, Kathleen! I love the way you describe things...you have a real talent for words! Your photos of the wildflowers are just great, and I wish I had a horned toad in my yard, but alas, do not! At any rate, I also loved seeing the yucca pods and seeds. Did you know you can eat the flowers?

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

Your pictures - both photos and word pictures are beautiful. And it IS fun just to walk around your very own place and see what's new. We had huge yucca plants either side of our driveway in the house where I grew up, and those thorny spikes are not fun if you happen to run in to them. Wish we had horned toads here. I would welcome them to eat every ant!!!

Brenda Kay Ledford said...

I love the photos of your wildflowers. They are so pretty. Sophie sure is a cute dog. Looks like she has spied something--the horned toad. You have such a wonderful way of describing things. Your tour of your home was great.