Poppies are popping at Wildseed Farms

At Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, the corn poppies were popping in the wildflower fields. Also, a tale of lightning at home!… Read More

The post Poppies are popping at Wildseed Farms appeared first on Digging.

On my wildflower drive out to Willow City Loop last week, I stopped at Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg, Texas, to check out their planted wildflower fields. The corn poppies were popping!

If lightning hadn’t been flashing and thunder rumbling, I’d have stayed longer to take more pics. But just then I got a call from my husband at home in Austin, telling me lightning had just struck a live oak in our yard — boom! — blasting a landscape light in the canopy out of the tree, lifting low-voltage wiring out of the ground and shredding its plastic coating, and blowing the transformer door off its hinge and slinging it 25 feet across the yard. There was no storm when it happened. The lightning just zapped down from a threatening sky. It seems to have traveled down the landscape lighting wiring and into the controller box and outlet on our house.

The power went out, one outlet in the house was sparking, and the wifi router and sprinkler system controller were blown. Everything else, including the tree, miraculously seems to be OK. Repairs are still underway, but we’re counting ourselves lucky. It didn’t hit the house directly, the tree was unscathed, and we are fine. It’s a good reminder not to fool around outside if you see lightning or hear thunder.

I welcome your comments. Please scroll to the end of this post to leave one. If you’re reading in an email, click here to visit Digging and find the comment box at the end of each post. And hey, did someone forward this email to you, and you want to subscribe? Click here to get Digging delivered directly to your inbox!

__________________________

Digging Deeper

April 6: Come out to Austin’s Mayfield Park on 4/6 for the Mayfield Park Gardening Symposium & Fundraiser, 8:30 to 11 am. This annual benefit for the park includes a raffle, plant sale, and garden speakers.

May 4: Explore “brilliant backyards, perfect pools and pergolas, and outdoor rooms and gardens” on the ATX Outdoor Living Tour on 5/4, 10 am to 3 pm. Landscape architects, designers, and builders will be on hand to answer questions. Tickets are $33.85 for adults, $17.85 for kids age 10-17.

May 11: Save the date for Austin Home’s Great Outdoors Tour on 5/11.

May 18: Pop up to Dallas for the 2024 DCMGA Garden Tour on 5/18 from 10 am to 5 pm. Tickets are $18 if purchased online prior to 6 pm on 5/17, or $22 after 6 pm on 5/17 or at the event.