Sun, 24 Aug 2008
The Rain Event
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It finally rained this week. I think we probably had about three inches total at my house, but I am not sure. I need to get a rain gauge. I took a picture of some beautiful rain lilies. These little bulbs sprout and bloom a few days after it rains. When it's not raining they have grassy leaves and don't look like much. Rain lilies are cultivated but are also kind of wild and will reproduce and grow in big swaths. Some homes in central austin have huge groups of rain lilies growing in their front lawns that burst into bloom after a rain event. I know some women who own a landscaping company called Rain Lily to pay homage to an old Texas gardening favorite.
posted at: 16:09 | path: /colleen2008 | link for this entry
Sat, 16 Aug 2008
Olive Mystery
We ended up cutting off the top dead part of the olive tree to see how it will re-grow from the sprouts/suckers coming from the trunk. I put this picture on there to show you how there are tiny holes in the trunk which makes me think that borers are the culprit. I think the trunk got some cold damage last winter in a very late cold snap and this made it more susceptible to borers. It seems like the tree will be ok and maybe with some stategic pruning we can make it look beautiful. I read online about preventing borers on fruit trees and most solutions are chemical. I try to do everything organically, so I think I am going to try spraying these olive trees with oil or Bt once a month or so to try to cut them off since this is the second tree we've had with this type of damage. If anybody out there knows about this sort of thing please write to us!
posted at: 10:56 | path: /colleen2008 | link for this entry