Confessions of a Serial Plant Collector

I've been gardening for a few years, and during that time, I've had a lot of plants come and go.  I've done some major landscape renovations.  I've become more and more fascinated with the critters in the yard.  I've accumulated some interesting scars.

A few groups of plants that I really enjoy are tillandsias, succulents, carnivorous plants, edibles, and aromatic plants (whether good or bad), and of course, I love leaves and blooms.  Basically, I like it all.  I don't discriminate!  I don't even mind bamboo when properly contained/managed.  And yet, there is a real special place in my heart for the freaks and geeks of the botanical world...  If it'll kill/injure/offend you in some way, I might have it!  From the stinky to the deadly, from the hallucinogen to the poison, and from the scratchy to the lethal, it's in my garden somewhere which can be a problem when people visit.  Sometimes I forget to warn people because I'm so used to it, but thankfully no one's been hurt.  Permanently.  And besides, there's always duct tape, charcoal, and the local ER.

The front garden is still evolving as are other beds.  This year, I decided to revisit the old vegetable garden after building a bit of confidence with edibles in the stock tank, and so far as I can tell, I'm going to have a record year for tomatoes which is a complete shock to me because I've never been good with them.  Go figure double-digging, adding crazy amounts of soil amendments, and watering regularly would result in such great production.  But being a bear with very little concentration, my husband and I have several other projects in the works such as the west/front garden, getting a proper rain barrel setup, making room for future projects down the line, building a pizza oven, and just generally tearing everything up.  Some of these projects are only the start of a much larger project because in this part of Texas, there's only so much work you can get done before super summer (June-September) hits.  We're pushing the limits a bit by still continuing to plant, but I have fortunately learned what absolutely cannot be planted from May to August.  Additionally, I'm gearing up for a plant competition in June, so I've been busy potting, repotting, fertilizing, grooming, etc.

Gardening and photography go hand-in-hand because a bloom will only last so long but a photo will last indefinitely with proper storage, filing, back-ups, air circulation, moisture, containment...  The photos I'm sharing have been taken over the past 3 years or so.  Most have been taken in the past year with quite a few recent ones.  The organization of the photos is as follows...

Carnivorous plants that eat bugs...  Reptiles that eat bugs...  Bugs that eat bugs...  Bugs that eat plants...  Bugs that pollinate plants...  Plants that people eat...  Edible plants in the landscape...  Landscape shots...  Landscape shots in the making...  Plants in the making...  Plants with bulbs/tubers/rhizomes...  Plants that need to be overwintered...  Winter plants...  Tillandsias which I got in the winter...  Succulents in the winter...  Succulents...  Texas!...  Flowers...  Flowers for the sun...  Flowers for the shade...  Shade...  Oh nuts!

As you can see, my system of organization is completely sound, but in case you do not see the perfect logic, please feel free to ask!  I love talking about gardening and hope this is an illness from which I'll never recover. 

Be sure to read the photo notes for important life lessons I've learned in the garden.  They're my gift to you!