Gulf Coast Toad

Lately, when I have come home from the gym at night, I've noticed something next to my driveway. When I get close it hops back and goes under a buckle in the driveway caused by an Oak tree. Upon closer inspection I found it is a Gulf Coast Toad - Bufo nebulifer.

The taxonomy of the Gulf Coast Toad is a bit confusing. The scientific name of this species has been undergoing some changes. This toad seems to be the most abundant specie of toad in the Houston area. I have seen it all over the city in neighborhoods and apartment complexes. It is very easily found at night after a rain where it can be seen hoping around the streets, sidewalks, and lawns. It eats any small animal that will fit in its mouth.

Here is the toad sitting outside of its home. Garden centers sell toad homes which are like an upside-down pots with a hole on the side for them to enter but toads will use many things to make there homes. A lot of times I find toad homes at the base of a tree betweeen the groves that will form roots below the surface of the soil.

One of the keys to identifying the Gulf Coast Toad is the dark band that runs a long side of the animal. They also have a deep V ridge between the eyes. The size is about 4 inches from tip of mouth to the tail end.

At night time after a rain look out for these toad while driving through your neighborhood. Drive slowly because they usually just look like a stone or leaf until they hop-hop-hop. Also, be careful not to run them over. Toads are beneficial to humans because they eat tons of insects (including big disgusting cockroaches) and keep those insect populations down.

Dinner at Uni

A few days ago my friends and I went to the Woodlands, TX to have dinner at a place called Uni.

Uni, which is the Japanese name for sea urchin, is located in the Market Street center very close to the Woodlands Mall. It was my first time visiting the Market Street shopping area which is a clean, lively, and diverse center. The restaurant Uni is next to the Cinemark theater across the street from the Central Park area. The outside of Uni is decorated with black tiles which makes it stand out from the many country style shops. The inside of Uni is nicely designed and service was good. But more importantly is the food...

Everything we had was really good. The presentation of each dish was very nice, the ingredients were fresh, and all the rolls were made neatly. Here are a few things that we had:

Chirashi bowl - mixed sashimi which was fresh and sliced to the prefect portion.

Tiger Eye and Brendy - Specialty Rolls

Specialty Rolls - the cutest Caterpillar roll I have ever eaten!

Chipotle Salmon

We also had seaweed salad, gyoza, and miso soup, which were all very good. The miso soup was much more hearty than many other places I've tried - it had a lot of mushrooms, seaweed, tofu, and green onion.

ahh.. Whenever I make post about food I get hungry. Overall, I really liked this place and will definitely be back!

Summer Wildflower Seeds

Hello! After the nice rain we got yesterday things are looking a little bit greener! My native plant garden has tons of blooms from Rudbeckia, Gaillardia, Tradescantia, Salvia, Vernonia, Malvaciscus, Helenium, and Helianthus. A lot of flowers are also starting to set seed. I spent some time this morning dead-heading some of the flowers and collecting seeds to store and share with friends. Here's what has seeds now:

Echinacea sanguinea - Sanguin Coneflower, this plant is doing very well in the intense heat and drought conditions. It is a must grow if you live in Houston or East Texas, to which it is native.

Helianthus annuus - Common Sunflower, The seeds that I planted last winter are now huge 12 feet tall plants with lots of blooms. I collected some seeds but will leave many for the birds to eat this fall and winter. Im sure the Goldfinches will love them when they return this winter.

Gaillardia pulchella - Indian Blanket, I think this plant never stops blooming... it continuously makes flower and lots of seeds. The seed heads are spiky so use gloves when collecting seeds.

Ratibida columnifera - Mexican Hat, the seeds are ripe and already falling off.

Rudbeckia maxima - Giant Coneflower, The seeds are almost ready.

Coreopsis lanceolata, Lanceleaf Tickseed - I collected lots of seeds from these plants today.

Here are some of the collected seeds. The top is Coreopsis lanceolata, right is Helianthus annuus, and bottom is Gaillardia pulchella. Im going to let them dry a little more before cleaning them and storing the seeds in paper envelopes.

Jadeite Cabbage

I got a package today...

It is a Jadeite or Green Glass Cabbage Dish. It is from the now retired Martha by Mail collection. I have started collecting MBM Jadeite things for my office because it goes really well with my charcoal furniture and beryl green walls. The jadeite kind of glows especially at night when the lighting is ambient.

Martha by Mail Jadeite Cabbage Dish

The bottom of the dish is unmarked but from the research I did I think it was made by L.E. Smith glass company for Martha by Mail.

The dish is covered and can be used for serving various things.

Lunch at Thai Cottage

For lunch Tink and I went to Thai Cottage restaurant on Westheimer Rd in Houston. It was excellent. I had the lunch special Pad Thai which came with a salad and spring roll. It was the best Pad Thai I've had in Houston so far. For the price ($6.25) the food quality was very good!

Photo taken with my iPhone.

My Pad Thai was very good. Not too wet or dry and lots of meat and veggies.

Rio Grande Chirping Frog

Finally!!! We had a very much needed rainy day...

...but before the rain, during the extreme drought conditions, I would find many of these small frogs in my pots of carnivorous plants. They are Rio Grande Chirping Frogs - Eleutherodactylus cystignathoides. They were probably the only source of moisture these little frogs could find. I only see them at night time when I would get home from work and water my plants. Sometimes I would find a few in one small pot.

Here's one Rio Grande Chirping Frog tucked under the leaf of a Nepenthes. The Sphagnum moss is constantly moist/wet so these frogs would find these spots comfortable in the very dry conditions. They make a short little chirping sound: Rio Grande Chirping Frog

So what is the Rio Grande Chirping Frog doing in my Houston, TX yard?? My Peterson Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians states that they are introduced to Houston and San Antonio and also that it adapts well to residential areas.

That is a good thing that came out of the drought - finally be able to see what was making all the chirping! I used to think it was the Mediterranean Geckos - Hemidactylus turcicus I always see at night.

Here is the Mediterranean Gecko climbing the wall of my back porch.These are abundant in Houston! ...they sound nothing like the Chirping Frog.

And here is there sound: Mediterranean Gecko sound.

My New Bromeliads

Wanting to make the backyard look tropical and needing to fill two clay urns I decided to look for some new Bromeliads. I actually don't have any Bromeliads in my large collection of plants but have always found them to be very pretty and I really like the way many species live on trees in the wild. I drove to Another Place in Time Nursery in the Heights area of Houston. This was my first time visiting this nursery and I really liked it. They have a nice assortment of plants that will thrive in the Houston weather which include lots of Bromeliads, Ferns, Orchids, Tillandsia, and many other tropicals and garden plants. It was really hard to decide on which Bromeliad to pick as there were so many different types to choose from. I picked out 3 Neoreglia 'Super Fireball' and Tink picked out another Neoreglia that was varigated. Here they are planted in the urns:

Neoreglia 'Super Fireball' , three of them in this clay urn I got from the Viet Hoa grocery store floral department in the SW Houston Chinatown. It was surprised to find a clay urn as most of them are made of resin these days...

They are situated on my backyard deck in the shade of a Crepe Myrtle tree.

The second Bromeliad. Im not sure what specie or cultivar it is... If you know please tell me! :)

I think the Bromeliads have become oasis to the tree frogs during the drought.