- STEAM Garden
- Jul 31
Updated: Aug 22
Hello Readers, Friends, and Fellow Educators,
This month's Garden Journal by Dinah shares pieces of her personal experience with the devastating flooding in Kerr / Kendall County and the Texas Hill Country. The DZ Academy, the STEAM Garden, Dinah herself, and her team were fortunate to remain unharmed; however, we are deeply aware of the profound loss and disruption this disaster has caused for so many of our neighbors, friends, and local businesses. We know this is an extremely difficult time for the Texas Hill Country, and we want to take a moment to thank the first responders, search and rescue teams, as well as the innumerable incredible support from all Hill Country communities, from people across the United States and the world, who have responded with compassion and aid to the destruction and loss faced by the Texas Hill Country. We are holding the victims, their families, and the entire community in our hearts, and prayers.
-The Dinah.com Team
Look at how this frog fruit has grown! We planted it on May 19, 2025 (see entry) and it is now thickly covering the surface of a 20’ x 15’ space. Note the plethora of tiny flowers that are attracting bees and small butterflies with their nectar. Frog fruit shades the surface of
the soil providing a cool habitat for insects, small reptiles, and earthworms. Frog fruit is also a host plant for the Common Buckeye, Phaon Crescent, and White Peacock butterflies. We think this ‘weed’ is a beneficial addition to a pollinator garden.
This beautiful Texas Crescent butterfly is feeding on the nectar of a moss verbena (Glandularia canadensis). Moss verbena (Glandularia canadensis) is a fantastic pollinator plant for nearly any garden. It is a native perennial wildflower that readily self-seeds. We grew over 50 plants last fall and winter by digging up volunteer seedlings and transplanting them into 4” pots. The individual flowers are short-lived, but they are major nectar producers while in bloom and the plant produces an abundance of blooms. Moss verbena can be used as a ground cover, a cascading feature in a rock garden, or in a hanging basket.
The Comfort July 4th parade was cancelled due to weather, and we were sitting on our back porch enjoying the sound of rain on the tin roof. Suddenly we saw and heard something that seemed impossible – the creek that is about 100 yards from our house was flowing backwards and water was rapidly rising over its banks. Thankfully, we have emergency sirens
in Comfort, Texas and they were blaring! It wasn’t until later in the day that we learned of the horrific situation along the Guadalupe River in the towns north of us. The water that was flowing into our pastures and towards our backyard was part of a wall of water that had traveled nearly 30 miles and backed up into Cypress Creek.
Our longhorns were also watching the rising water.
July 4
The first picture shows what we were seeing in our backyard, and the second picture shows the street in front of our house. Our gardens were not flooded, just the pastures.
July 5-16
These have been difficult days. The entire region is overwhelmed and depressed by the tragic loss of life, the physical destruction of homes and businesses, and the devastation to flora and fauna. It is nearly impossible to believe what we are seeing around us! Comfort
quickly became one of the hubs for search and rescue teams and their presence is needed and deeply appreciated! We have three generous, tireless, well-trained professionals and their cadaver dog staying with us. The only positive note is that our gardens are prospering after the rain, the search and rescue workers were encouraged when walking through them to get to their cabins after physically and mentally exhausting days.
For the last two years I have tried to grow passionflower (Passiflora incarnata). Finally, this year I have a plant that is thriving and multiplying! I heard that it spreads and becomes a problem, but I didn’t really think much about that because I couldn’t get it to grow at all!
The first year it was eaten by Gulf Fritillary caterpillars before it reached two feet in height, and then it got root rot as we tried to help the plant recover quickly. The second year we planted new 4” plants in large pots. The plants grew slowly and once again were completely devoured. We stored the pots in the greenhouse over the winter and they came back like crazy this spring. We are also finding seedlings within a 6’ radius of the parent plant. My Gulf Fritillary butterflies have plenty to eat, and I have plenty of passionflower plants!
This looks like a very large bumblebee, but it is a carpenter bee. Unlike social bumble bees, carpenter bees are solitary. They use “buzz pollination” (sonication) to vibrate and loosen the pollen from a flower’s anthers. Their bodies are so large they can’t reach the nectar
source of many flowers, so they make an opening at the base of the flower and collect the nectar through this hole. They are called carpenter bees because the female drills a tunnel into weathered wood such as dead trees or old wooden structures. She uses pollen and nectar to make bee bread which she places next to each egg within the tunnel. Her young will have a snack awaiting them when they hatch.
These sweet almond bushes (Aloysia virgata) emit a strong, sugary fragrance that can be detected throughout our garden and along the main road in the heart of our town. Tourists have leaned over our fence to ask what plant they are smelling. The smell also attracts pollinators -- bees, beetles, wasps, flies, and butterflies. This twelve-foot shrub is
one of our most drought-tolerant plants. It has not been given supplemental water during our three-year drought. It is native to Argentina, but it is perfect for parts of the United States, too. It alternates between periods of heavy and light blooming from spring to late fall.
July 24
One of our summer garden helpers had quite a surprise when she stood up to greet me today. A small head appeared – a snake. This Texas rat snake was between the cushion and the back of her chair. It was about 18" long and it had a noticeable bulge in the middle of its body, a good sign it had just eaten and was feeling lethargic. She had been sitting in the chair for several minutes and hadn’t suspected what was behind her. Rat snakes are not venomous and will not bite unless provoked. She wore gloves to move it to a more hospitable environment. It took a quick swim in the pond and then exited into the salvias. We see a couple of nonvenomous snakes a year in our gardens, but they are afraid and disappear rapidly.