Some Spring blooms

White Coneflower  self seeds each year

Busy Bee now that the Obedient Plant is blooming.

Beauty, Flags, and Functionality

Now I Think This Hibiscus From Our Garden Is Beautiful 

And I Think These Flags Are As Well

Today is the Saturday before Memorial Day and the Cypress  Creek Band has just put out the flags for the weekend.  You, too, can participate in this important fund raising program by clicking HERE to download and print the subscription form. For $36 per school year, you will have a flag placed in front of your home for a few days for each of 6 national holidays, beginning in September. The band members put them out and pick them up.

Now some things are not particularly beautiful but are quite functional for a Norchester gardener.  There is always a problem in having a supply of healthy milkweed plants for the caterpillars toward the end of the season.  By that time they have chewed most plants down to bare stems.  So our Master Gardner is trying this 6x4x4 "screen house" to protect some young plants so that they can fully mature before the little munchers can get to them.  Not beautiful, but functional. 







And keeping things watered over the summer is always a challenge.  Here are three very functional hose end timers that we have settled on as being reliable, easy to set, and a good value overall.  We use them on our dripper systems.  The first two can be set to come on as often as you like and for as long as you choose. They are powered by two AA batteries that will last all season. One of these was also addressed in our blog of Sep 20, 2013












And the last one is spring driven and for setting by hand for a period.

In this case "functional" means reliably performs a needed task.

Available at Lowes and Home Depot.

Restless Natives

It is moving toward summer time in Houston. Not all plants do well in our Houston heat. However, this fine blossom is Winecup. It is also called Purple Poppy Mallow.  It is just one of the four Texas Native Plants for Houston that are featured in the May Horticultural Report for the Norchester Garden Club.


As usual, you may download this report, along with any of the previous ones by clicking on the link located under the "Useful Links We Like" list in the right hand column of this blog site.



Any may be viewed, downloaded, or printed by clicking on the desired topic.

Three Mornings at the Park

The cell phone did well on these three mornings but it would have been nice to have my good camera along.



Matzke Park has a lot to offer.  In addition to the Butterfly Garden it has fine old trees and a great walking trail.  I especially like the trail very early in the morning from about 6:15 AM.  Yes, it is dark.
I try to get out most mornings for 6 laps of brisk walking. (4.2 miles).  


This morning (Apr 17) about 7:00 AM it was getting light and I caught the moon setting over the Cougar Country water tower which the sun was starting to highlight.  You can see this when walking to the west along the north side.










I was a bit late, 7:20 AM this morning. (Apr 18) I saw this as I was driving toward the park.  It was floating very low right over Jones road at about the Met.  By the time I parked and got out.. it had risen again and was to the west of Jones.... Not exactly the Albuquerque Balloon Festival but another gorgeous morning to be outside..

And Easter Morning, April 20, about 6:30 AM... ground fog blanketed the cricket field while the morning sky was a fitting welcome to this special day.

Spring at Fawnview Ranch

Wow... isn't Houston great in the early spring ?  

This is a wonderful time to stay at home and literally "smell the flowers."      I have decided that after being in this same spot for 32 years, it is as close as we will likely come to owning a few acres in the country. So I have now designated it The Fawnview Garden Ranch.


The front lawn is a work in progress since Saint Augustine has decided to present us with a good bit of decline.

Three yards of special mulch delivered from Conroe is supposed to help this problem.  Thank goodness for a cheerful helper as there are a lot of wheelbarrows in 3 cubic yards

This year, our resident Master Gardner has worked especially hard. And things were looking very nice. However, a number of plants, like our roses, are still just in the bud stage.

Of course there is a good reason things look so nice... it has to do with one of my favorite little stories; modified just a bit......






The stranger said "the Lord has blessed you with a beautiful ranch." And I replied...
"Yes, and we are thankful. But you should have seen it when he had it all to Himself.

If you would like to see more pictures from this week's tour of "the ranch,"  you can CLICK HERE and take the short slide show.

Annual Children's Programs

Norchester Garden Club will present free educational programs for children ages 4-7 at  Precinct 4 Matzke Park Butterfly Garden located at Jones & Grant Roads.  Groups of up to 21 children are invited to hear the 45 minute story of the Monarch Butterfly in the garden which is an official Monarch Butterfly Way Station.           


Children’s Educational Programs are available on the following dates: May 6, 12, 14, 15. Reservations are required by April 30 at

Noon.  No rain date.  For current details CLICK Here

March Mart Time

The annual Mercer Botanic Garden's "March Mart" plant sale is this Thurs, Fri., and Sat.   This major event takes three days to set up: plants to be moved from the greenhouses, price tags inserted in each of the thousands of pots, and then placement in the designated areas.  Thankfully, we haven't had to do it in the rain the last two days.  These pictures were taken this morning (Tuesday)








All plants are open to the public for sale on Friday and Saturday... BUT.. if you are, or become a Mercer Society member, you are able to shop one day early; on Thursday.  This is a great advantage as some varieties get sold out quickly.    You can show up on Thursday and join on the spot for as little as $25 per year. Click Here for Info 











The Mercer Society (TMS) is a non-profit organization which has as it purpose to provide financial and volunteer support to the Botanic Garden.




Our Master Gardner is on the TMS board of directors and heads the education committee.   As usual, she and Helper #1 will be manning the "Childrens Corner" in the vegetable section which has dwarf and smaller vegetable plants suitable for container gardens and that appeal to the younger folks