Watery Wordless Wednessday

Watery Wednesday ~ Wordless Wednesday

Todays Flowers - Horsemint Mosaic

Horsemint is a fascinating plant to take pictures of. It can look raggedy out in a field (espcially after it's dried a little in the Texas sun), but is delicate and lacy up close. 

So, I decided to feature photos of horsemint for Mosaic Monday, and to show it off in Today's Flowers too!  I used the Mosaic tool on Big Hugh Labs to make this mosaic.

Mellow Yellow Camera Critters - More Caterpillar Pics

Surprisingly the dill plant survived the first set of caterpillars that call it home...then recently two more came, and pretty much finished it off.  When they were done with nearly everything green on it they crawled away.  We caught one crawling out of the pot and placed it gently on the grass.  Later that day we found it crawling on a plastic pinwheel that had fallen over in the grass, and together we took some kinda trippy pictures of it.  This first picture I'm pretty sure is by my son (age 7 - and yes, I was impressed).

And then, an amazing thing happened.  While we were still

taking pictures of the caterpillar, a grasshopper jumped onto

the pinwheel right next to him!   He stayed just long 

enough for us to take a couple shots.

Throwback Thursday at Living Life...

Sky Watch Friday

See more sky-views at Sky Watch Friday

Aloha Friday - A Question About Bindweed/Field Morning Glory

Welcome to this week’s edition of Aloha Friday! Every Friday (well, ok, almost every Friday) I ask a simple question--nothing that requires a lengthy response. Please participate by leaving an answer in a comment below, and if you have a blog and would like to post your own question you can leave your link at An Island Life.


My question this week is about this little plant...

Which is growing prolifically in the wild parts of my yard...

This flower is a type of morning glory...and also goes by the less pleasant name "bindweed."

One article I read about this plant said this:

"Some morning glory is grown as an attractive annual vine in our area. Field bindweed is not attractive."

Hmmm...I disagree.  I think they look lovely.  Other than having smaller flowers and leaves than the garden store morning glory, I don't see a big difference in appearance.

But the article goes on to say...

Field bindweed is a strong-willed perennial, Goodspeed says. It grows from rhizomes, which are technically underground stems. This gives the plant the ability to move great distances under the ground without being detected. These rhizomes can produce a "new" plant at each node on the stem.
“In layman terms, this means the plant has the ability to send up 1,000 new plants right where you are trying to establish a flower bed or garden,” he says. “As if this were not evil enough, this noxious weed also has the ability to produce thousands of seeds. To top it off, these seeds can lay dormant in the soil for up to 50 years before germinating.”
Are you scared yet?

- Morning Glory Is Gory by Dennis Hinkamp

No, I'm not scared...though I am gaining respect.

You see, maybe I'm crazy, but what I hear in that is "This plant which is  soft on the foot and easy on the eyes (IMHO)  also grows and spreads without any work from me."

So, my question for you is...

What is your opinion of bindweed/field morning glory?  Love it?  Hate it?  Somewhere in between?  And if you have time, please tell me why.  (And if you've never seen it before...you can just tell me what you think of it from the pictures and description here.  Would you want it in your yard?) Thanks!

Wildflower Discoveries

Letting my yard go wild was one part laziness and one part curiosity.  After I discovered the Mexican Evening Primrose, I began to wonder what else was out t
here!

I didn't put weed killer on my yard, just went after the stuff I knew I disliked with a vengeance, and let the rest grow.  Here's what I discovered.

Mexican Hat

Horsemint

These Tiny White Beauties

They're called Frog Fruit - what a cute name!

These Tiny Pink Beauties

(Possibly a type of bluet...not sure)

Pink Morning Glory

There was one pink morning glory last year,

and I scattered some more seed, 

so this one might be wild, might be planted.

White Morning Glory

These were covering our yard last year,

so they weren't "discovered" so much,

but I'm happy to have them back!

I love the wildflowers in my yard,

but I wanted to add some more color too,

so here's some lovelies I bought.

These were all grouped together in their pots...

even now only a few have been put in the ground.

They sure do look pretty though.

My NON-Wildflowers

If you want to see more gorgeous blooms,

or share what's blooming in your garden

head on over to Garden Bloom Day 

and Blooming Tuesday! 

You can also check out more wildflowers at

Wildflower Wednesday!

Also shared on Throwback Thursday.

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Small Talk 6 - Father's Day Edition

The question for this week's Small Talk 6 is....

Six Things You and Your Dad Both Enjoy  

My Dad and I are very different, so I was happy for this 

chance to think about some of the ways we were alike. 

My 6 are...

1. We both like to ski (and my parents had a lot of help  in pushing that along).
2. We both love the mountains.
3. We both are avid readers (though the books we choose are different).
4. We both love the ocean.
5. We both enjoy crosswords.
6. We both enjoy exploring history.

If you have a blog you can post your own Small Talk 6 and leave a link on MomDot.  If you don't have a blog, you can join in by posting your 6 in a comment below!