Carrollton Yard – June 2023

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June is the ‘getting hot’ month in Carrollton, Texas…leading into more frequent 100-degree-plus days in the following months. It is already obvious which yards in the neighborhood are getting watered. My parents have a sprinkler system that my sister keeps tuned to maximize the watering where it is needed most. In the backyard the Queen Anne’s Lace, cosmos, hibiscus, and day lilies are lush – flowers and lots of green. In the front yard there are dusty miller plants in bloom, the last of the daisies, and the red yuccas with blooms and lots of green seed pods. The red oak planted there is finally getting a lot of light and growing well since the ancient mulberry has been cut down.

There is still grass to mow and weed eating/edging – a continuing chore – even though the years of gardening have reduced the area maintained in that way. Pulling ‘trash trees’ that emerge in the flowerbeds requires more finesse by the person doing the work (distinguishing what needs to be pulled from the plants that should be in the flower beds) and is always on the ‘to do’ list for the yard!

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Wishing everyone an enjoyable 4th of July…Independence Day in the US…a day for fireworks, parades, and watermelon!

Two Plants in Macro

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I took some macro photos of two plants in my parents’ yard in Carrollton: dusty miller and red yucca.

Dusty Miller is known for it’s white, felt-like leaves but this time of year it might be blooming…and the flowers are yellow!

We cut a few flower stalks to bring indoors and that is where I took macro pictures of the developing flowers with my phone (Samsung Galaxy S10e) using my Bluetooth remote shutter release. The unopened buds reminded me of powder-sugared donuts!

The red-yucca seed pods are frequent subjects for my photography in my parents’ front yard. When they are mature, they pop open to reveal and release papery black seeds. This time of year, there are pods from last year and new pods are that are still green/developing while the plant continues to bloom.

Some of the red yucca stalks were hanging over the walkway…had to be removed. I kept one of the green seed pods to take a closer look. The tip of the seed pod begins to dry first. I cut the pod in half. The seeds are not fully formed; they are white and very moist. The 6 compartments are well defined. The outer skin of the pod separates easily from the developing seeds. I separated one of the seeds; The tissue did not appear differentiated at all. I’ll try to take a closer look at one of the fully developed black seeds next time I am in Carrollton.

Overall – two very different plants that made for interesting mini-photoshoots!

30 years ago – June 1990

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Thirty years ago – June was a busy month. I had rejoined the work force part time and my daughter was adjusting to day care very well. The high with her in June 1990 was her enjoyment of a small swimming pool. The first time was a little too cool for her, but she still liked being outdoors and in the water. The next time was warmer and even better.

The low with her was a trip to the hospital early one morning when she had croup. I held her in the vapor tent, and she got better…enough that they didn’t have to medicate her. There were evidently other children with the same problem that night. We were all very hungry for breakfast when we go home.

I picked 7 pounds of strawberries at a farm that is now a housing development. It only lasted a couple more years after 1990.

We had a chipmunk that came up to our deck. My mother-in-law put out seed for it. The baby and the cat were intrigued by the rodent’s antics.

We were on the wait-list for a senior living facility for my mother-in-law…hoping that she would get in before I went back to work full-time and she would be alone in the house too much of the time.

We were primed for a bit of travel in early July….a weekend away for a road trip.

Unique activities for yesterday:

More pictures from Texas. Since I had yard pictures from 2 of my 3 sisters, I asked the other sister for a picture and she sent more than one: sunflower, lantana, hibiscus….and a bunny!

Then she realized that there was more she wanted to share: lavender hibiscus, blue salvia, dusty miller, and red yucca.

Her yard probably has less grass as the years go by! She has quite a riot of color.