Maples, bitter oranges and other thoughts on Fall turning to Winter

While most places waved goodbye long ago to autumn's turning leaves and fading blooms, South Texas (despite one freak snowstorm) enjoyed our usual long, warm fall season.  The temperatures have been in the mid-70s the past few days so I've been out walking. 

One of my favorite neighborhood sights during fall is this maple tree which bursts into bright yellow-orange for a few days each fall.  It's probably a Shantung Maple from China because the leaves look smaller than our native Big Tooth Maple.

While the Red Oak next door gets good color it's the evergreen tree just in front that is quickly becoming a favorite.

Our neighbor brought seeds for this sour orange tree from his native Honduras.  The trees are descendants of Seville oranges brought to the New World in the 17th Century by Spanish explorers.

Sevilles are not pretty grocery store oranges and their bitter juice is astringent on the tongue.  High pectin content makes them excellent for marmalade which I had fun making last year.

This year I used them in Mojo, a citrus marinade, for grilled chicken and also made a delicious Sour Orange Pie.  Most "Sour Orange" recipes include various methods to approximate the taste of hard-to-find Seville oranges so I am very appreciative that I have been invited to take as many sour oranges as I can use.

Sticking with the citrus theme we have a bumper crop of Mexican Limes which are the same as Key Limes.   It usually takes about 20 of these tiny fruits to make a Key Lime pie but so worth it since lime juice doesn't get any fresher than straight off the tree.

Meyer Lemons are ripening just in time for Lemon Cheescake.  So nice to have fresh lemon and limes at hand.

We finally produced a Pomegranate with seeds worth eating!

There are five fruiting Pomegranate trees in the garden which look great but rarely produce good seeds before rotting or splitting.

In more news, the front landscape survived last week's snow with very little damage.  Not a bit of tip burn on the Cycad.

Golden Barrels are fine, just a little wet.

Seedheads on grasses are heavy with all the rain we've had this past week.

Fortunately most of my dry-loving plants like this Yucca gloriosa 'Variegata' are planted in fast-draining gravel.

One more warm day and then we'll have a cold front.

It's raining again this morning.  No snow predicted for Christmas.

Pumpkin Patch at Spring Creek Gardens

With the arrival of October we can get in the mood for fall even if our San Antonio weather has been hot.  While San Antonio doesn't get the spectacular autumn colors found in colder climates, we do our best and a good example is Spring Creek Gardens which goes all out with a huge Pumpkin Patch.  Here are photos from last October.

Colorful pumpkins brighten the shade under a nice stand of live oaks.

The different colors and patterns are always fun to see.

Lots of pretty vignettes set up to inspire for fall.

Spring Creek Gardens is in Spring Branch about 25 minutes north of San Antonio.



Annuals near the front gate are displayed in a welcoming roadside stand.

Mummies! how cute!

I was enamored with the awesome rockwork in these walls.

The nicest garden center gift shop around plus they sell wine from local wineries.

Stylin' way out here in the country

More garden goodies on display in the greenhouse.



Chickens!  They sell chickens and also poultry keeping supplies.

Will you take me home with you?

Shady seating areas to take in the view.

Ready for fall ya'll!

Butterflies approve of the extensive native plant selection.

I try to stop by Spring Creek Gardens whenever I'm up north on 281.

If you're looking for a place in the hill country to take the family, they're on US 281 just a few miles north of SH 46 on the west side of the road and have plenty of fun fall activities listed on their website.

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The Garden Conservancy San Antonio Open Days Tour is this Saturday, October 14th from 10am to 4pm.  For more information click this link to the Garden Conservancy website.

Seasonal Celebrations: From Fall to Winter

Fall colors usually arrive much later in San Antonio than in more northern regions.  This year it seems later than ever so we can combine fall color with holiday cheer.  Last week I attended an event at the San Antonio Botanical Garden and found both in abundance.  I'm linking with Donna at  Gardens Eye View for Seasonal Celebrations to show off how we enjoy two seasons at once.

The Carriage House entrance is ready for the holidays.  There are many changes in the works for the San Antonio Botanical Garden and construction is underway for a new entrance that will accommodate larger crowds.

Autumn Garden Roundup: Back Garden

With our first cold weather of the season hitting this week I'm posting my annual garden roundup to show the gardens at their Autumn peak.  In my last post I featured the front yard and today we'll tour the back yard.

The centerpiece of the back yard is the circle garden created last year to cover a bare spot left by two years of extreme drought.

Autumn Garden Roundup: Front Garden

The weather is saying it's Fall as colder temperatures head our way.  As always, we are grateful to the folks farther north for blunting the impact and accepting the worst of the cold front's effects.  Anyway, it's time for my annual Autumn Garden Roundup before the garden fades for a few months.  I've taken quite a few photos of the garden at its peak over the last week or so for your viewing pleasure.

We'll begin in the front where there haven't been many changes this year.  A little different view than I typically show is this approach from the front of the house out to the street.  Yes, that's a lot of concrete. Concretious Americanus is very cold-hardy and was installed by the original owner who is also a contractor.

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center Fall Festival

Last Saturday I joined friends at the beautiful Mitchell Lake Audubon Center just southeast of downtown San Antonio for their annual Fall Festival.  The local Audubon Texas group has restored this beautiful 1910 home as a center.  The home was moved to the site from the McNay Art Museum east of downtown.

Ripening prickly pear are sure signs of fall

It's the first day of autumn and we made it through a particularly brutal summer here in San Antonio, so time to look for seasonal changes in the plants.  The traditional fall colors so common in northern climates are rare in South Texas.  After a few days of rain a "cold front" blew in and dropped our daytime highs all the way down to 91F/33C.  I've been outside several hours each day planting and transplanting to take advantage of the beautiful weather.  While we do have a few pockets of maples and a several other plants which will change color this season, our weather typically remains quite warm right up until the calendar says winter.

That doesn't mean we don't have our own signs of fall.

One sign is the ripening of the Tunas or prickly pear fruit of the Opuntia cactus.  In the arroyo across the creek behind the house these are bright red.