Neighbors, "Sookie's," [Mr and Mrs Sukenick] gave me seed for this little vine back in the 1980's and it has come up every year since then, any where and everywhere! It is such a brilliant red that one tiney little bloom can be seen from 350 feet without a glass! The hummers love it. I do not know if it is indigent to this area but it certainly flourishes here in East Texas.
Sat, 10 Feb 2001 I received this post from Mary Branstetter which I really appreciate. "The 1st picture you have on page 7 of the wildflowers is a Cypress Vine. They're a beautiful vine with a lovely little flower & as you say, it attracts hummingbirds like mad. It's similar to the Standing Cypress. We have the vine in Oklahoma but not the Standing Cypress. At least, not in Muskogee County. Mary Branstetter
Chickweed is a really determined little plant. There are several species, some have larger blooms, but this is the one in my yard. I think it is one of the plants that the Creator uses to hold the soil when it is left barren. If we don't protect the soil with mulch or plants, the Creator will, if left alone, with chickweed, Cleavers, Ground Ivy, .... . all kinds of things that create shade to hold the moisture and roots to hold the soil from washing out. One of the troubles is that man has so much equipment, that even the Creator has a hard time keeping up and so we have had some really bad mud slides in areas that man has scraped and sawed clean. Shame on us.
This Christmas Cactus has been growing in a pan of water for nearly 17 years. It blooms occasionally, but the availability of light at the right times is not very conducive to proper blooming. It doesn't get enough sleep! From what I have read, before the blooming period, it needs about 14 hour long darkness in each night. This is near a window where the street light gives off quite a bit of light all night.This is not an East Texas wild flower, but a cultivar that I have had for about 25 years. It had been in a hanging basket, but two different people began watering it not realizig that it had been watered, and the plant began to rot. I saw what was happening, took the plant out, discarded the rotten parts, washed all the old material from the living part and, not having time to re-plant it, popped it into a tray of clear water. It did so well, I just left it there! now, in the year 2000, it is getting a lot of mineral build up and begining to be stressed. Guess I'd better get some starts of it and start another pot!...OK..11/18/2000 have slips rooting in the basement.
This is just a small part of a wild Vetch plant and is a bit enlarged. It is fairly early in the season and growing in a rather unlikely place, where it gets little sun, even in the winter. It is really a wild,trailing, climbing, tangly plant, much like the cultivar that is raised in some areas of Texas to be bailed into hay for livestock. Vetch grows in such a tangled manner that it is difficult to tell what damage has been done to it if it suffers hail damage.
The blooms go from a lovely blue lilac,to nearly red purple. The ends of the leaves usually form a double tipped tendral which clings to what ever it can, even its own stems, thus froming an almost impenetrable mass. Being a legume, it's fruit are little tiney bean like pods and are high in protien. It is also a good soil builder, having something to do with nitrogen. [I am not too knowlegeable of the chemistry, but know it grows deep roots and is beneficial in loosening hard soils.
6 Mar 2000: While taking a walk in garden, picked some Artemesia to make some smudges and noticed in particular the pretty little Eucaliptus tree. Decided to take a few clippings to put in the potpourri pot and to make a small arrangement. And then... just had to try to scan a speciman.
It is not indigent to East Texas; it is a cultivar, but it is something that can be used for fragrance and arrangements, and I use it for the fragrance as it seems to help clear my sinus when I let it simmer in the potpouri pot. It can be grown in a pott which will help control its size. The leaves are more of a silvery blue green than it scans. I grew it from a small whip in the garden and it is now about 15 feet tall.
And...
![[Eucaliptus]](pic/eucalip2.gif)
Thought you would like to see it from the top of a stem or actually a branch.
14 Apr 2000: I started out with 3 risomes of this lovely Iris, and just about 3 years later, there is a whole string of them! Had noticed that there were large seed podds split and nearly empty where the blooms had been, but had never noticed an Iris seeding before. My source, Neighbor Mary, doesn't know what it is either.
This was scanned using a deep tray from the meatmarket to hold the scanners lid up. It caused the background to pick up various shades of the plants to give a harmonizing background. This is the actual size of the bloom.
![[xmascact.gif]](pic/xmascact.gif)
![[Vetch]](pic/vetch.gif)
![[Eucaliptus]](pic/eucalip1.gif)
![[iris]](pic/iris01.gif)
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