Here are some early evening (approx 7pm) shots of S1, B1 and B3 flowers. I suspect the plum colored iris in the photo is either histriodes George or reticulata JS Dijt. Incidentally, that’s the first Muscari botyroides album that I’ve caught sight of blooming in the gardens.
I stumbled over this article at Dallas News which highlights some reasons why Dallas still fails to cater to our four-footed friends. I just wish we had many more area establishments I can take my fur family to.
That handsome tornado’s name is Dash, and he is 1.5 year old Australian shepherd who has taken a great delight in mowing over plants in my backyard. Several bulbs and tender shrubs have met their demise under the paws of this stampeding ball of fur. The most recent deaths included a healthy thriving purple salvia as well as my most mature white salvia. No fence can keep him out, and I’m at my wits end trying to find some way to deter him from entering the beds. I purchased 6 planter rings from Home Depot this weekend and hopefully I can protect the remaining fragile salvias, including the 2 salvia chamaedryoides that were cut low by this Texas twister.
Meanwhile, I’m way behind on purchasing my white daffodils for the 2008 show. I’m looking more into salvias to fill the bare spots in the garden. A few that have caught my eye: Salvia greggii or jamensis ‘California Sunset’ (orange) , Salvia greggii or jamensis (?) ‘Sierra San Antonio’ (coppery peach), Salvia greggii ‘La Encantada Peach’, Salvia jamensis Moonlight (yellow) , Salvia greggii ‘Yellow Cloud’, and any more orange, yellow and peach variants I can dig up.
It always seems that when a new plant finds its way into my flower beds, a mischievous puppy manages to rampage through: uprooting, trampling, eating and mangling all the newcomers.
For example: barely a week into the ground, the new irises I obtained from Zebrairis.com became victims of a stampeding fur-nephew. If he wasn’t such a cutie, Dash might have gotten more discipline than he received. It’s a sore reminder for us pet-loving gardeners to take extra precautions in securing plants from rambunctious puppies.
The pups used up the last of their pressed rawhide supply last night…and it’s time to replenish. Shopping around on the net for bulk rawhide yielded poor results…hardly anybody offers pressed rawhide in bulk numbers. Petedge.com still has the best price on a 50-pack of pressed 4″ bones. I also tried to research the differences between porkhide and rawhide, but the general impression I get is that porkhide is simply tastier. Still, I’m not fond of the carpet-staining selection of smoked porkhide that I’ve purchased previously. Plus, I don’t think the puppies are too fond of the taste.
Now if only they’d get rid of that $6.99 minimum charge…!