Well, friends, we survived another summer in Houston! I have not been writing much this summer but I have been working on getting new healthy habits. One of them is walking in our lovely neighborhood, the Heights. I am logging about 12 miles a week including Sunday walks with Shawn and the dogs at the Houston Arboretum. As a side benefit of walking I am really enjoying up-close observations of the changes that plants go through as the seasons change. Many plants in Houston rest in the summer! Others love the heat and humidity and bloom all summer long. Once we got past the long hot “flash drought” of July and parts of August the plants were treated to weekly rain showers. You can see it in their flowers. If you haven’t driven by the corner of 18th and Harvard in a while you may want to come by and see our second spring in all its glory!

Even though I haven’t been writing I have been taking pictures and posting them on Instagram, often making collages as I document my walks. If you enjoy Instagram I invite you to follow me there too by clicking this link to my Instagram feed Ravenscourt Gardens! This great example of the vivid colors of our second spring, Texas hibiscus, Hibiscus coccineus Walter, in Bart’s garden. It is stunning when it blooms and worth the leggy growth habit. Loves the sun and plenty of moisture. This is an easy one to grow from seeds. I noticed a humming bird enjoying its nectar but couldn’t get a picture.

Below is a picture in front of our house And you can see the Rain lilies, Zephyranthes rosea are happy with all the rain. Even though it is still warm and humid and we have new bright green growth on our shrubs and lots of flowers there are signs of Autumn too! I get excited when I see the changes of the angle of the sun and the way the sky looks deeper blue in Autumn light. I know this means cooler days are on the way. Walking I also noticed the dropping of acorns and the squirrels busy enjoying a harvest feast. “In the garden, Autumn is, indeed the crowning glory of the year, bringing us the fruition of months of thought and care and toil. And at no season, safe perhaps in Daffodil time, do we get such superb colour effects as from August to November.”
Rose G. Kingsley

Happy Gardening!