Mimosa Tree

This is my new favorite tree! The owner of the property happened to come out as we were admiring her trees and identified them for me. They have leaves that are all broken up like ferns, seed pods that look like snow peas, and these wonderful fuzzy pink flowers whose petals are made up of little, soft spikes. When I touched the flowers, hardly any sensation registered on my fingertips.


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From reading a number of posts online, I gather that many people consider this tree to be quite invasive and destructive when the roots push up fences and so forth. From http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/00240/mimt.htm

History and Description
The mimosa tree is from Asia and Africa. It is sometimes called a Silk tree. It grows to an average of 20-30 feet. It is a deciduous tree, which attracts bees and butterflies. A mimosa tree has a single trunk and fern-like leafs with fragrant pom-pom like flowers.

Uses
It was introduced in 1745 as an ornamental tree. People plant it in their yards to add beauty to their surroundings.

Reproduction
It spreads by animals and water-dispersed seeds. In wet areas, the seedpods float downstream. This enables them to reproduce quickly. The Mimosa grows better in dry-to-wet places. It is able to survive the winter in the southern U.S. but flowers better in warmer, drier climates. The flowers come up from May to July and the fruits and seeds come up from June to February.

Ecological Threat
Mimosa trees grow rapidly and reproduce easily. One mimosa tree can produce over two hundred thousand seeds each year. This threatens the native species.

Control
Pull the seedlings or shallow-rooted plants when the dirt is wet. If it starts to grow again, cut down the re-growth. Using chemicals also works. Roundup is very effective for controlling the spread of the mimosa tree.

Here is an image from the Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants. For more information on this beautiful tree, go to http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/node/29

Sunflowers!

Here are some flowers I can readily identify! I can't claim to know the variety. however, so I will try to look that up. These were growing in the greenbelt that runs through our neighborhood.

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Okay, here's what I found out about these sunflowers:
Sunflower
Scientific Name: (Helianthus annuus)
Definition: The sunflower, or common sunflower, is a late summer-fall flower with yellow petals and a brown central disk. Sunflowers may grow to 10 feet tall. Grows throughout Texas.

This is the image that was shown with the above information. The seeds look a bit more defined than the ones that I saw, but I am guessing that is more a matter of seed maturity than difference in variety.

You can find the original information at http://www.lone-star.net/wildflowers/flowers.htm

Flower Identification

It's so amazing that yellow and orange and pink petals can all be on the same flower. This beautiful bouquet was next to the sidewalk along our street. I am terrible at identifying names of God's creations so if anyone reading this post has any ideas on what kind of flowers these are, I would really appreciate your leaving a comment!


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I have identified the flower! It is Texas Lantana (Lantana horrida). Apparently it is named for smelling horrible! Looks like I'll have to take a smell test the next I am by the flowers. Here is some more info:

Texas Lantana

Lantana horrida has a great show of flowers that last from spring till frost, the flowers a yellow color and and fade to an orange color along the outside edge and are great at attracting butterflies into the garden. Texas Lantana is drought tolerant, salt tolerant, deer tolerant, and has outstanding heat tolerance. Texas Lantana is native to the Rio Grande Plains and Southern Edwards Plateau in Texas. The leaves are smaller and rougher than Lantana camara, perhaps to help with the drier conditions of its native habitat. The name Lantana horrida comes from the smell of the foliage which is known to smell strong or Horrible!

Hardiness: USDA Zones 7-10
Plant Use: Flowering Perennial
Exposure: Full Sun to Part Sun
Water Requirements: Low

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You can find the original information at http://www.magnoliagardensnursery.com/productdescrip/Lantana_Texas.html

My son's final basketball game

You can see him in white playing some great defense! In the last 3 minutes of the game, he got trampled and hurt his knee. He's pretty tough, but that made him cry, and he crawled off the court as I ran to pick him up. By the end of the game, he was good as new! Thank the Lord. All the kids got participation trophies afterwards. The Transformer is quite proud of his.

VBS Family Night

The kids had a great time at Family Night. We saw a family from our home church there as well, so the kids were particularly excited to see their friends. The evening started in the sanctuary where the kids sang some songs and we saw a part of an ongoing skit and heard about the fundraiser benefiting a mission in Mexico.



Then we went to get food tickets. The line was so long, we just let the kids play in the bounce houses first. Once we got the tickets, we went to go get food (hot dogs and corndogs), but they were ALL OUT. No food left. There was still plenty of cotton candy, snow cones, and popcorn. (sigh)

Anyway, the kids got snow cones, and we got the unused tickets refunded. They got to ride a cute kiddie train pulled by a tractor. The driver really drove fast and spun the kids around in a circle. They loved it!

(Above left) The Kitty Cat up a tree. (Above right) Friend from church.

We got home late and fed the kids late and got them to bed late. Tomorrow's another VBS day AND my birthday! We will probably celebrate the latter on Friday night.

Last Week of VBS for This Summer

The Transformer and the Kitty Cat are in their final round of VBS for this summer. So far they seem to be having a great time. For some mixed-up reason, both of them are in the same "crew" although the crews are supposed to span two adjacent grades at a time. Anyway, they seem to be happy with the arrangement. The Kitty Cat is the youngest one in that group and the smallest by far! Tonight they are having Family Night, so I will try to post some pics.

The Transformer is continuing his summer basketball, which will end at the end of next week. The following week he will begin kickball. Otherwise, we'll just be participating in random summer events until school begins August 3rd!

Friday Kickball

Well, this morning we played kickball with a bunch of wonderful people down in Buda at 8:30 this morning! It was still hot. We stayed for about two hours, although the game continued. We had a wonderful time--I even got to run in to homebase! :)

Then we were off to stop by the house briefly, then up to NW Austin for a playdate, back down to central Austin for basketball practice, then back home for dinner. Unfortunately, I got a headache, possibly due to dehydration. I'm terrible at keeping up with my water intake when we are out of the house.

Anyway, back to the kickball. The kids are signed up for VBS next week, so we will have to miss the game then, but we hope to join the group again the following week for more fun. I'll try to get pics next time.

Happy Independence Weekend!

Pirate's Beach on Thursday afternoon with a cousin.