Now that it's cool...

Working outdoors pretty much every day in the summer from hell left little energy for blogging, so I wimped out until now.  I took only one photo between July and September--no point when there's only rack and ruin and half-finished projects to look at, except for this amazing two-striped walking stick that appeared on the front porch one night in August:

Anisomorpha buprestoide (with male on back)

But then the rains came and with them a second spring.  Wouldn't it be interesting to calculate the rate of plant growth per hour over the first 2 weeks of September.  It seemed I could almost sit and watch things unfurl.

Chinese ground orchid

Passiflora 'Incense'

The storm that hit the Hwy 290-183 area on September 4 brought the schoolhouse lilies on September 6!

And there was a population explosion of anoles--this little guy was barely 1 1/2 inches, sitting on a salvia leaf.

This guy seems to be meditating

The September rains caused a lot of things to bloom before I wanted them to, such as the Souvenir de la Malmaison and Martha Gonzalez roses, and the brugmansia, which went wild up until last week, at times having 10-12 blooms on at the same time.  I do see a couple, though, that look like they'll open by Saturday.

The wonderful little white spiderwort that I got at the MGs' plant sale at Zilker Fest have spread well and will probably still be in bloom on tour day.

Speaking of tour day, it's fast approaching--my nerves are a bit frayed, my arms are covered with mosquito bites, my back is sore, and my cheeks and nose are sunburned, but I've enjoyed every (well, almost every) minute of the preparations.  There's a great sense of satisfaction in seeing ideas come to be.  I am so grateful for the moral support of my gardening friends, not to mention their labor on projects big and small.  The truth is, I could not have done this alone!