Sweet Gum Trees in Meyerland

There is an area in SW Houston called Meyerland. Along one street, sweet gum trees with their distinctive fruit are thriving.

The bark of the sweet gum is sometimes called alligator wood, which is easily understood upon inspection.

Zucchini Draped Over Fence

What a wonderful find when I was walking along a street today. At first, I wondered about the yellow star-shaped flowers and then in an instant, I realized, it was zucchini growing on a fence!

Here you see two zucchinis in various stages of growth. See the tendrils to the left of the Italian squash. Zucchini are exceptionally delicious when paired with chopped fresh tomatoes, onions and a sprinkling of Italian herbs.

Flags in Texas

The wind was not blowing and so we don't have that wonderful billowing effect on the flags.

Sunny Lantana

After taking a long gaze at the flowers, can you guess why this plant has the nick-name "Ham and Eggs?" Answer at the end of this post...

When I was a child, my friend and I would hunt around outside for some old cast-off can, like a soup or bean can. We'd gather lantana and add some water, stir it with a stick and pretend it was soup fit to eat. Thank goodness our mothers' generalized warnings about rusty cans and not eating this or that from the wild over-rode our play. We never drank our concoction.

I must admit, however, that I was not as careful about other berries and twigs I would find in the wild. All along the way from school to my house I would search out sea grape trees and would stuff myself with the dark purply ripe ones. Now I won't even eat a wild apple without washing it! I confess to eating unwashed thumbleberries that grew wild in Hawaii, though.

Back to Lantana: Lantana is a hardy plant that has, at times, the smell of sage. Best not to get too close, though, as the Lantana leaves are poisonous. The lantana is appreciated by gardeners for its drought-tolerant qualities and brightly colored flowers. The flowers are not poisonous to birds and are used by some male species to decorate their nest in order to attract a female. Many species of butterflies love the lantana. If you want to attract butterflies to your garden, you might try lantana. In many regions of the world, lantana is considered a noxious weed and is not desirable; however, its woody stems are used by some artisans in India in their wicker crafts. Although the ripe berries of the lantana are supposedly non-toxic, again, if ripe, I recommend not putting any part of the lantana plant in one's mouth. Stay safe!

Answer: The reason some people call this plant "Ham and Eggs" is because of the pink flowers (ham) that surround the yellow flowers (eggs.)

Lily of the Nile Or Agapanthus

From the first time I laid eyes on this flower, I was enchanted. I'm not certain when that might have been but when I lived in Hawaii, they were a familiar flower in gardens and public landscapes. These delicate tubular flowers are blooming now in Houston. The pre-bloom stage is especially pretty, and they are most spectacular when planted in masses. Despite the name "lily," it is not a lily. Originally from South Africa, the plant has been adopted by numerous tropical and subtropical locales all around the world.

Black-Eyed Susan

These wild flowers are growing at the end of my street, having somehow seeded themselves for another summer. Yes, near the Bayou that I wrote about in an earlier post. In all, there are not too many of these plants, but they seem vigorous and healthy. I've seen these same wild flowers in a few other places, but they do not populate many areas. Perhaps that is because they tend to grow near the roadside where the county comes along with their huge mowers and mows them down before they can even get started. I love the composition of the bright yellow petals, brilliant green leaves and the cloudy blue sky. I took these photos yesterday, and the wind was blowing hard. You can see the effect of the wind in the bent shape of the plants. For a while, I didn't think I could capture the flowers because of the constant swaying back and forth. In a split second, I was able to release the shutter. How divine!

Caladiums

When I was a young child, we lived in what today would be considered a small bungalow: 3 bedrooms with a jack-and-jill bathroom between two bedrooms on one side and another bedroom with a small bathroom attached on the other side. But my favorite place was outside. My mother created a rock garden full of caladiums, crotons, and coleus with interesting rocks, various kinds of coral and brain coral. I would stand at a distance and watch her work in the garden in the early morning sun. I was quiet, but in my heart I loved that garden and believed it to be the most beautiful in the world. When we left that house for "a more prestigious location," I was heart-broken. Mostly, I didn't want to leave my friends and I especially didn't want to leave the rock garden that meant so much to me! Pink caladium hearts, always in my heart!