I could not agree more. This is worth watching!

Swallowtail caterpillars have an bright orange/red fleshy organ called an osmetrium. It looks like a serpent tongue that they stick out when they are disturbed to scare off predators. Osmetria give off a bad smell when stuck out – from two chemicals released from it. I came across this one on an Satuma orange tree in my backyard garden. When I touched the branch – look what happened!

Yellow Bells aka Esperanza (Tecoma stans ‘Sangria’) looks delicious and adds a sunny spice to your garden. I first spotted this variety at Buchanan’s Native Plants in November 2011. I had never seen this color before. The color of the trumpet flowers are more complex than the traditional sunny yellow variety ‘Gold Star’.

My friend Chris Wiesinger along with Dr. Bill Welch in this video talk about Heritage Gardening. I’ve posted it here for everyone to enjoy.

Heritage Gardening TV Pilot from Casey O'Quinn on Vimeo.

The passion flower vine is a favorite of Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae) and host plant for their young caterpillars. I captured these shots at Buchanan’s Native Plants nursery last week.

Adult laying eggs

Caterpillar on Passion Flower Vine

Tiny caterpilar

Last month I visited The Ground Up – Houston’s new powerhouse in organic soils, compost and mulch. I first saw them at an OHBA event this spring. They’re marketing is fresh, vibrant and very hip. But most importantly, they’re committed to sustainability and producing quality products to serve the Houston area. That got my attention.

In my opinion, most gardeners spend way too much time focusing on what is above the ground and ignore the most important part of their garden, the soil. Building good soil is an ongoing process and what you put in your soil really does matter. Compost is the single best soil amendment. Before I’d spend anything on tweaking my soil I would add a quality compost. It is balanced, teaming with beneficial microbes and literally breathes life into your soil.

Their handcrafted humus compost looks and smells great. It is made from 100% pure, virgin yard and gardening trimmings. It is Soil Foodweb tested and approved.

Andrew Jobe, Corporate Development and Ashley Olmsted, Marketing and Communications of The Ground Up, gave me the tour of the Windfern location. They understand the chemistry of good soil and how important quality is. It is refreshing.

Yes, we road around in this snazzy vehicle.

Virgin materials are delivered to the yard by landscapers, tree trimmers and land developers.

Trimmings are ground up and placed in mounds to begin the composting process. It takes massive equipment to produce compost and mulch.

You can find them at 9945 Windfern (just north of 290 inside Beltway and 19102 FM 1093 (Westpark Tollroad) in Richmond TX. West Houston finally has a source for quality compost, mulch and soils. If you’re looking for a wide selection of stones, rocks and boulders – you’ll find them there too.

Looking for bagged products? They’ll be introducing them this fall, so you’ll be able to pick up mulch and compost at most premium garden centers in town.

From The Ground Up website:

We take only clean, organic yard trimmings, then we age it, grind it, and handcraft it into mulch, composts, and bed mixes to create a cycle we call, from The Ground Up. We carry – Mulch, Soil, Sand, Stone, Grass and mulch much more!

So remember before planting anything, make sure you work from The Ground Up. It is important to support local businesses that focus on creating quality products in a sustainable manner.

Disclosure: The opinions and views expressed here are mine. I was not compensated by anyone to write this article. I did receive a sample of compost from The Ground Up to take home and try in my garden.

Deep Root Watering Made Easy

Saving trees just got easier with Treegator®. Treegator® is designed to properly water a newly planted tree or shrub by slowly and evenly providing deep water saturation directly to the root zone, with no run-off or evaporation. It is made in the USA which helps keep jobs right here. No guesswork or measuring. Just fill the bag once a week… that’s it.

Since you fill the bag with your garden hose you can put the water right where it needs to go while still complying with the City of Houston’s water restrictions currently in effect.

Where can you find this amazing product in Houston? At Buchanan’s Native Plants of course. I was just here this morning and saw them on display. Want to learn more about Treegator®, you can visit their website.

Winner has been chosen on 9/16/2011 via Random.org and notified via email. Thank you for participating. Congratulations to Patty Hicks – comment # 47 – you’re the winner of the Deluxe SeedKeeper Kit.

Randoming Drawing Selected Comment # 47

Seedkeeper Deluxe - Get Organized!

I’m giving away one of these handy seed organizers on September 15, 2011.

Ulitmate Garden Organizer: Assorted seeds on the windowsill, seeds on the counter? You want to save them right? Except now you’ve forgotten what they were? Sounds like you? Then you need a Seedkeeper.

Organize and keep your seeds protected and easy to find in the The Seed Keeper Deluxe. A-Z dividers have new, essential garden information about composting, rain barrels, mulch, growing organic, a Frost Zone Map, other great garden facts, tips, lore and more. Sturdy monthly dividers are helpful for planning your seed starting and garden plantings. But wait….there’s more!

Also included are:

• 10 wooden plant markers,
• 10 glassine seed envelopes
• 10 What Did I Plant? stickers ideal for putting on seed trays
• Pair of garden gloves
• Seed sorting dish
• Seed tweezers
• Hand-held seed magnifier
• Utility clip
• Toothpicks (seed picker-uppers)
• Hand and nail scrubber.

How to enter this giveaway?

Extra Entries:

Want more chances to win? Complete as many of these things as you want for extra chances to win! Remember to leave a separate comment for each additional entry since each comment will count for one entry in the giveaway. (You’ll notice each comment is assigned a unique number, so the winner will be selected using randomizer.org which selects a number at random.) The more extra entries you complete, the better your chances! If a task is worth more than one entry, please leave a separate comment for each entry. (for instance: “I subscribed to your blog #1″ and “I subscribed to your blog #2″).

Remember to leave a comment for each entry you complete.

1. Watch the informative video post from Shawna Coronado on how to use this kit. (2 entries)
2. Become a fan of Olive Barn on Facebook (1 entry)
3. Post a comment about this seed kit on  Olive Barn’s Facebook Wall. (2 entries)
4. Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway. You can use this tweet: “Win a Seedkeeper Deluxe Kit today via @jdelia #Giveaway #Olivebarn http://bit.ly/qlA5vj (Ends 9/15) ” One entry per tweet. Leave the link to your tweet in your comment. (1 entry – you can do up to one tweet per day)
7. Follow Olive Barn on Twitter (1 entry)
8. Sign up for Olive Barn Newsletter on the  (2 entries)
9. Subscribe to receive my blog posts via email or reader (2 entries)
10. Become a fan of my Facebook page (2 entries)

IMPORTANT: Beneath this posting is the word “Comments.” This is where you’ll put your entries. Only entries on this giveaway post will be counted. This giveaway will end at 10PM CST on Thursday, September 15th, 2011. A winner comment number will be drawn using Random.org and I will send an e-mail to the comment author how will have 48 hours to respond to or a new winner will be selected. This giveaway is open to readers ages 18+ who are located within the United States.

Good Luck and Happy Gardening!

Make sure you leave your e-mail address in at least one of your comments.

Worst drought ever? According to John Nielsen-Gammon, the Texas State Climatologist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University:

“These statistics rank the current drought as the most severe one-year drought ever for Texas,” Nielsen-Gammon explains. “Never before has so little rain been recorded prior to and during the primary growing season for crops, plants and warm-season grasses.”

Trees all over Houston are dying and lawns are brittle, brown and dry. Now we are dealing with mandatory water restrictions that will impact what remaining plant life remains. Our only hope is for that relentless high pressure dome over Texas to dissipate.

My plantings for a fall garden have been postponed until these water restrictions are lifted and our area receives significant rainfall.

If you are in Texas, how are you coping with this drought?