Diana C. Kirby, Author at Diana's Designs Austin

Come on over to critter country again!

I could have filmed a nature documentary here today.

First, my three friendly new deer visitors came looking for a late lunch and I gave them some water. This spring we have a Mama doe and two yearling bucks visiting regularly.

I went in the garage to get another saucer for some corn. Just as I was reaching for a tray, a Carolina wren flew out of the shelf, not more than a few inches from my hand!

I screamed (not uncommon for me here in critter-land), and realized she had just flown out of a nest right above my hand.

The wrens have been in and out of the garage lately, so I’ve been keeping it 1/2 closed, thinking I had deterred them before they started a nest.

HA!

(Remember, I am NOT in charge!)

There it was — a sweet little nest inside a blue and white pot, with 7 tiny speckled eggs in it.

I waited a while and checked again, and found the Mama burrowed deep down in the nest, covering her eggs and guarding them with her life.
It you look carefully, you can see her head at the bottom. I was trying not to disturb her too much, but I did get a better shot on my second try.
She’s really giving me the evil eye here!

I high-tailed it out of there, but not before putting a saucer with birdseed and water close by her when she has to be in the garage and can’t get out.

I’m going to leave the doors open when I am home, opened the windows for air, and will leave the doors cracked when I can, trying to make sure she is IN and not OUT, when the doors have to be closed for a long time.

I thought about slowly moving it outside the garage, a few feet at a time, but there are two very predatory cats next door, so I couldn’t get them to a safe enough height.
Here are our little deer friends. This little buck is quite plucky – he gets really close to me and once even acted like he was coming to me. He’s clearly young!

This is their Mama, who’s always with them and keeping an eye out while they much. They have eaten on a few of my smaller or newly blooming plants, normally left alone. I think they are really hungry and too young to have a very sophisticated palate yet. Oh, heck, who knows why!

Oh, yes, and while I was taking pictures of the birds and moved on to the deer, a Texas horny toad lizard shot out between my feet!

I should be charging rent! Or filming for some reality show!

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:31-05:00June 8th, 2010|baby birds, Blog, bucks, deer, doe, eggs, Sharing Nature's Garden, wrens|0 Comments

Hoeing for hornworms

Holy Cow.

Imagine my horror when I inspected the garden today after returning from our 4 day trip to Indiana and found a tomato horn worm.

No, wait, not one.

But two.

No, wait, not two, but FOUR!

The horror.

So I got my thick gloves and my child’s hoe.

I picked them off one by one and hoed them to death.

(Did you know that their blood is green ooze, kinda like anti-freeze?)

Ewwwwwww…

Then I covered their carcasses with mulch in the garden path and gave them a proper burial.

It’s too hot now to follow up with BT, but you can bet I will be out there first thing in the morning to spray and make sure I got all the little buggers.

It took me a long time to find those four, and I am certain there are more that I simply can’t see. They blend in much too well. They are the epitome of camouflage.

Ahh … the tomato wars begin.

So far, the odds are still good.

Diana – 1, Hornworms – 0.

Are you prepared to do battle in the tomato wars of 2010? Who are your worst garden enemies?

By Diana C. Kirby|2016-04-14T02:42:31-05:00June 7th, 2010|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, tomato horn worm, tomatoes|0 Comments

Touring the neighbor’s garden

Yesterday brought me a delightful garden treat. We’re visiting family in Indiana, and one of the neighbors down the road is an avid gardener, and works at a local nursery. He was kind enough to offer me a private tour last year (See Hoods Gardens) , and yesterday I got a tour of his personal garden just down the road.
This is farm country — rows and rows of cornfields and soybeans as far as the eye can see. But going to Ed’s house was like going to a garden paradise. Because we are far, far away from my Zone 8b-9 home, it was fascinating to see all the different plants he can grow here in Indiana in Zone 5.
Ed has a wonderful collection of chickens and roosters, too, and I got to meet most of them while I was there. They seemed curious about having a visitor, but they didn’t get too close, as they were much too busy pecking for bugs.
I fell in love with this iris, as it is the same colors that my Ocelot at home was supposed to be and wasn’t. Most of his irises were done blooming, but I did get to see a few stragglers. Not sure of the name of this one, he’s dubbed it his ‘hound dog iris!’
Now I can’t remember the name of this, but it sure looks like something in the salvia family to me.
His gardens surround an amazing and historic farm house, complete with big porch and unique architectural touches. And his gardens are also little vignettes with interesting focal points to draw the eye, like this old metal spoked wheel next to a pot of succulents.
A few day lilies and Easter lilies were still happily blooming, adding splashes of color to the garden.
And imagine my delight to see this old stock trough filled with Amaranth, Cleomes and a few other plants.
Not sure of the botanical name of this bright patch of yellow, Ed likes to call them butter cups.
And this old garden was also full of Valerian, which is a hardy perennial here with pink or white flowers. It self-seeds freely and used to be used a a perfume in the sixteenth century and is still used to make a potion to aid in sleeping.

These sweet, ripe cherries called to me and I had a taste of them as we passed under this cherry tree, heavy with fruit.
And I can’t think of anything more appropriate to adorn the side of this wonderful farmhouse than this giant snowball bush, full of vintage blooms harkening to times past.

It was a wonderful afternoon in the garden with a dear friend. Thank you, Ed.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:26-06:00June 6th, 2010|Blog, Ed's Garden, farm, Indiana, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Why I garden…

I was trying to think of a nice gift for the office staff where I volunteer weekly at Kallie’s school. Knowing they get more Starbucks cards and candles than they can shake a stick at, I turned to my garden.

Isn’t that why I planted a cutting garden? To bring some of the beautiful, nature of the garden inside.

So I picked as many flowers as I had time to find and made these three jelly jars to give them. I filled them with roses, daisies, larkspur, lantana, Mexican oregano, wine cup, marigolds, and cosmos.

Not being the gardening type, they were amazed that all these different flowers had come from my garden and were so appreciative of the gesture.

That really is why I garden — so I can share some of the beauty and tastiness with my friends and family. And that’s why I decided to call my blog “Sharing Nature’s Garden.”

And now, I’m sharing it with you!

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:28-06:00June 4th, 2010|Blog, cutting garden, Sharing Nature's Garden|0 Comments

Wildflower Wednesday — Way out of control

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday, when we join Gail of Clay and Limestone to share our photos and stories of native wildflowers. My favorite today is in my own garden.

Golden Coreopsis has grown out of control in my garden. They were 1 foot tall when I put in the original plants 2 years ago. Last year I didn’t have any at all – some garden helpers pulled them out in early spring thinking they were weeds. But this year they are back with a vengeance – a towering 4 feet tall, growing over all my other perennials and shrubs. So I am enjoying the show they’re putting on, and then I plant to pull them and let them reseed in a more appropriate place where they can grow to their heart’s content!

Golden Coreopsis, Coreopsis tinctoria
This amazing wildflower gets 1-4 feet tall. The yellow and reddish/brown leaves are bright and bold, made even more so by the giant stems on which they rest.

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:28-06:00May 26th, 2010|Blog, coreopsis, golden coreopsis, Sharing Nature's Garden, Wildflowers|0 Comments

My sweet Magnolia

What a beauty.

I know we aren’t “supposed” to grow Magnolias (Magnolia grandiflora) here in hot, dry, alkaline central Texas, but many will tell you that the dwarf variety, “Little Gem” is acceptable.

If you love the look of the old south and all the romance evoked by these glorious trees and the lush gardens in which they are usually found, you will find Little Gem much more than acceptable.
Our recent rains have prompted a flush of blooms all over our Little Gem, and the scent is just heavenly. I walk out to the middle of the yard and stand there just to take in the aroma.
It stresses a little in the drought, but then many trees do, even our natives sometime show their displeasure with our unrelenting summers.
In anticipation of another La Nina summer, I think I will fertilize or compost mine now to give it a little extra boost going into the heat. After all the enjoyment it has given us, I think it deserves a little extra TLC.

Majestic flower! How purely beautiful
Thou art, as rising from thy bower of green,
Those dark and glossy leaves so thick and full,
Thou standest like a high-born forest queen
Among thy maidens clustering round so fair,–
I love to watch thy sculptured form unfolding,
And look into thy depths, to image there
A fairy cavern, and while thus beholding,
And while thy breeze floats o’er thee, matchless flower,
I breathe the perfume, delicate and strong,
That comes like incense from thy petal-bower;
My fancy roams those southern woods along,
Beneath that glorious tree, where deep among
The unsunned leaves thy large while flowercups hung!
– Christopher Pearce Cranch,
Poem to the Magnolia Grandiflora

By Diana C. Kirby|2017-11-29T23:27:28-06:00May 23rd, 2010|Blog, Sharing Nature's Garden, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Diana C. Kirby

About Diana C. Kirby

Come on over to critter country again!

Hoeing for hornworms

Touring the neighbor’s garden

Why I garden…

Wildflower Wednesday — Way out of control

My sweet Magnolia

Escape in the garden