Mellow-yellowing into fall, but the garden still has bite
October rolls around, mellowing out the Texas garden. At last, it’s a pleasure to be outside again, noticing how the moonlight-yellow variegation on the whale’s tongue agave glows in the afternoon light. The weather is gentler. But the garden still has bite, as shown in serrated leaves and needle-sharp spines.
Another spiky beauty with snazzy, lemon-lime stripes. This is ‘Opal’ American agave.
At night, spiny-armed praying mantises lurk under porch lights, hunting the unwary.
Smiley lies in wait in a pot of opuntia.
By the swimming pool, I found evidence of a danger noodle coiled in a hole in the wall.
But it’s all good now that the Death Star is waning. Among fall-blooming Indian mallow (Abutilon palmeri), I’ve found my own mellow again.
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Digging Deeper
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I don’t envy your weather, but I do lust after those big Agaves.
They’re a good consolation prize for our summers.
Thanks for an updated photo of your gorgeous variegated Agave ovatifolia. It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on a year since I visited. That was such a fantastic trip, great memories!
That WAS a fun visit, Loree. Good memories!
That’s one photogenic praying mantis. I had to look up the term “danger noodle”, which I guess means snakes are less common here than they are in Texas 😉
It’s from a meme my kids introduced me to when they were younger. Now that my kids have left the nest, I don’t know how I’ll stay current on memes and new slang.
Danger noodle ?!
Technically, I suppose, it’s a Nope Rope, not a Danger Noodle, since the snakeskin is likely from a nonvenomous rat snake. This is from a meme of silly animal names my kids introduced me to years ago. I thought everyone had probably seen it by now. 🙂
There is a sense of winding down, but the succulents seem to be liking the sun angling down. Don’t we all breath a sigh of relief? Our weatherman even went so far as to say he thinks we are over having days over 90F. Yay! Soon we will be moving the succulents / cacti into the little greenhouse. It makes taking care of them in Winter so much easier . Don’t have to schlepp them in and out of the house or garage, or dig out all the covers for them. Most days, though, it gets warm enough in there so we open up the windows once the sun is up!
That’s a bold prediction for the weatherman, but I sure do hope he’s right! I envy you your little greenhouse. I still schlep over here. 😉