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I am repeating myself.

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There is an awful lot going on in and outside of here…

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an awful lot indeed.

I put on my backpack, grabbed some

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and embarked on another expedition, this time into my circular planting bed.

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Hacking a path with my machete, the foliage at ground level was dense and foreboding, not much sunlight made it through the dense larkspur upper canopy.

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There were occasional breaks in the foliage where water had, over thousands of years, eroded deep gorges and holes into the ancient rocks.

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I observed Sedum reflexum growing as large as pine trees on some of the rock faces and massive tarp-like hoja santa leaves that offered protection from the sun.

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This particular rock face had vertical drop-offs and treacherous pathways.

I passed what I assumed to be some of this regions indigenous tribes-folk, strangely they did not say a word.

At the summit of this mountain I was surprised to find

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these exotic tiny frogs, basking in the filtered sunlight. I observed them for some time until the silence was broken by a loud whooshing sound over the other side of the rock face.

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Jings, crivens help ma boab!

What was this place that time had forgot? (Overly dramatic score)

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In the next valley there were

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towering toadstools and

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groves of these “Jewels of Opar”,

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though their “jewels” had a lot of growing to do…ahem.

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High up in the distance I could make out the silhouettes of more monsters,

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monsters that had…RETRACTED PROBOSCIS!

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And you all know how I feel about those.

Of course there are other monsters that roam down the decomposed granite pathways in the Patch.

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This one has a green thumb.

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Yes it was time for me to exit this small patch of land that time had forgot before things got any more ridiculous.

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Back to my normal size:

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These star gazer lilies sit there most of the year doing absolutely nothing. They burn at the edges in the middle of summer, require some trimming, but once a year, for a very short time they do this:

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Which makes it worthwhile…I think.

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The bluebonnets have also done amazing well despite the worsening drought situation in central Texas.

I even have one white one…just the one.

White bluebonnets are the result of a mutation in one of the genes responsible for producing the blue pigment of the flower, they are quite a rare phenomena, pink bluebonnets being the rarest.

Finally:

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Now the neighborhood kids are getting in on the climbing the hobbit gate act.

The “Oh, I don’t think so” image of the week:

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Stay Tuned for:

“Darkness Returns”

 

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All material © 2013 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Candy Apples”

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Candy Apples, 2009 oil on canvas by Margaret Morrison.

Is there anything more Texan than the Rodeo?

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The lassos were spinning,

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as were some other people.

Some even braver souls had the nerve to be flung around and upside-down by this monster:

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But I was not one of them.  Oh no, in fact I got vertigo just observing this rotating monstrosity of a ride and judging from some rather unpleasant “unmentionables” deposited around a nearby seat that I was staggering toward, so had some of this rides earlier occupants.

Brrr, but enough of that.

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That’s more like it.

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I could use these.

I have not had a candy apple (or toffee apple if you are in the UK) for years and I thought it time that my kids try them…(not one of my better decisions).

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“Don’t get the truck sticky…Don’t put that wrapper on the seat…DON’T GET THE TRUCK STic…

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“Aw come on!”

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By the time we arrived home the seat belts were like fly-paper.

Back in the Patch:

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After the rodeo, Gypsy Rose had apparently got a new head for heights…

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“Get down from there and come smell the roses.”

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This one was given to me by Loree over there at:  http://dangergarden.blogspot.com/

I have no idea what variety it is…Loree? Anyone?

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 The petite Ipheion, ‘Rolf Fiedler’ is always a sure sign of spring.

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It may be short but it sure packs a cool aesthetic with its overlapping perianth segments…snort, adjusts taped-up glasses.

A great companion for early yellow Daffodils, it has been a dependable bulb in my garden for years now…I need more, lots more.

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Remember the yeti paw?

Well surprisingly (and considering our recent 90 degree temperatures) it turned out not to be a yeti at all but

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an emerging four-nerve daisy, imagine that.

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The first poppies are blooming in my hell-strip.

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Bamboo Muhly grasses catching some afternoon sun. The background opuntia tree is also ready for some paddle-pruning to further promote vertical growth. It always wants to grow sideways and not up, but I don’t let it.

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These grasses were getting a little long in the tooth so I cut them back to the ground after taking this image.

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This Pyracantha ranks up there with mist flowers as an insect attractant when in bloom.

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These eight-spotted forester moths

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are particularly fond of this plant. I counted six milling moths on it the other day.

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Damianita have also been pulling in these colorful and aptly named Bordered Patch butterflies, sometimes called the Sunflower Patch.

Chlosyne lacinia

 

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Stay Tuned for:

“The Small Patch of Land that Time Forgot”

 

the land that time forgot

All material © 2013 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

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