I'm quite good at a bunch of things, and really bad at a whole other bunch.

I'm bad about putting off writing replies to messages from people I care about until I have plenty of time to compose something worthwhile. I don’t like to just dash off something short and careless. The photos of interesting things I come across will routinely grow old without anyone seeing them because I want to first crop them, find the right site to link to, and write a clever caption. Things don't get done.

Not this time. Not here. Not anymore. It's action day.

It's time to start this blog and I'm doing it today, ready or not. We get what we get.

Welcome to my chronicle of the evolution of our plot of Mustang Island — the landscape, terrain, gardens, paths, flora.

I wanted it to be chronological, sequenced, methodical, with all the details of the story of our journey. Instead it will be observational, erratic, helter-skelter, flawed, irregular.  I'll share something when conditions allow it. It'll be fine, good enough.

Official Blog Starting Point

Below is the lot plan drawing I made for the hardscapers of where we wanted the concrete surfaces. As we go to press, the forms are in and we're awaiting the pouring. The red lines outline the paved areas and the pale gray lines are the what-ifs I'm considering for informal pathways around planted areas. Those will change dramatically once reality arrives and we're trying out sites for the many pots of plants and doing walkabouts. 

The goal is to have a yard full of paths that meander around beds sized for full viewing and reasonable access, and lead to multiple interesting destinations. 

  

Yesterday's Flora Adventure

While we wait, here's a randomly reported account of Saturday's adventure of gathering seeds from the winter-flowering Tropical Milkweed, Asclepias curassavica.

Milkweeds seem to think of their seeds as little birds or clouds, providing them with almost lighter-than-air fluffs that let them float on almost non-existent air movements.  Beautiful to watch.

Fluffy seeds are hard to store and plant, and I read about a quick and harmless way to remove the fluff without making it a chore. Fire.

We went low-tech and skipped the suggested torch and used a simple lighter.

Poof! Like a micro-explosion, the fluff disappears in a tiny burst. A few clicks and we're done.

Good enough. The seeds are ready for a quiet siesta before they find new lives in locations to-be-determined in island sand.

A Primary Plant

If you don't already know, it's not apparent from the plot plan that the house is higher than the surrounding ground. It's an island, right?, and the Gulf is full of water we hope stays out there. But, just in case....

Besides the sand brought in to raise the foundation, we've had a dozen loads of sand brought in to support the hardscapes, and over a dozen more will come later (not soon enough) to shape the slope from high to low. 

Along the front slope from sidewalk downwards, I'd like a good deal of trailing lantana to dominate other ground-covering things. It blooms so beautifully all year, in the winter even as well as spring and fall. This photo ISN'T our yard and is only how ours might look. 

Catching the Drops

Rain gutters don't do well in particularly high-wind locations that could someday see a tropical storm come along, so our house doesn't have them. Nothing like long pieces of metal flying at 70 mph.

The hardscapes are poised underneath almost all of the down-roofs and will catch the majority of rain runoff, which we hope will disperse fairly gently, thanks in large part to the pretty groundcover.

What we will catch are the drops of water the AC system takes out of the house. It can't compare to rain, but the drips will happen every day and rain is sometimes happy to wait weeks or months between visits. Sites online tell us our drops could collect into 5-20 gallons a day. Twenty sounds useful, while five, not so much. 

What do you think? Watch this space later for reports. Our two new rain barrels, coming next month through a city incentive, will each collect the water brought from installed pipes.

I hope to have photos of concrete next time.