Fletcher

We all love the spring garden — the awakening of plants that herald the arrival of spring and provide a foreshadowing of more  to come.

As the sun shifts in the sky and the breezes begin to warm up, I’m enjoying some rejuvenating time in the garden.

I bought these sweet glass daffodils to bring a pop of color into the garden before the daffodils were ready to open up.

 

The ‘Kate Izzard’ irises are loaded up and several of them are opening every day.  You can tell that I should have divided them last fall, which I fully intended to do, but I seriously need to do that this fall.

Even though traditional tulips aren’t in our Central Texas plant palette, these species tulips, cluisana ‘Lady Jane’ are sweet substitutes in my garden. 

This little patch of phlox disappears entirely in the head of summer, but I can count on it to emerge in spring with loads of little blooms.

My cemetery irises are also popping open all over the garden.  Our winter clearly made the irises happy.

Bluebonnets are covering my decomposed granite path, and even Kallie’s playground filled with pea gravel.  Fletcher enjoys a peaceful moment with them here.

While most of the buds on my monster wisteria were frozen in our last freeze, there are still some opening up and draping delicately from the fence.

And then there is the homestead verbena.  What a powerhouse.  In the cooler spring and fall, they thrive and liven up any spot in the garden.  They will shrivel and look poor in the heat of summer, but just shade your eyes and pretend not to see them until they return again in the fall.  Even though many of our bloomers start now and run through the fall, homestead verbena is well worth it’s little summer break.

Now that the threat of freezing is past (I have my fingers crossed as I type this), it’s time to fill in the rest of the garden with new and exciting plants that will herald the summer.

Even though it’s only March, it’s already spring here in Central Texas.

After our exceptionally mild winter and welcome rains, the early bloomers are already hard at work in my garden.

In addition to the daffodils I included in my last post, many of the other perennials are already flowering.

This loropetalum is bursting with hot pink fringe-like blooms.

It’s the one I’ve pruned to become a small tree.

These pretty little blooms below called to me at the Natural Gardener last week.

And as soon as I started typing, the name flew out of my head! I’m sure you know just what they are – they aren’t mums, they might be gaillardia.

The wisteria is starting to bloom. Like last year, there is some growth on the back side of the fence, but there are plenty of buds for me to enjoy inside the fence.
I love looking at the Mexican plum tree buds against the pretty blue sky.
The stone wall makes a nice backdrop for the trailing lavender lantana behind the pool.
The hellebores would have preferred a colder winter, but some of them are giving me some blooms — this is ‘winter’s wren.’
The strawberries are blooming their ever-loving heads off! Soon we will be able to eat more than one ripe one at a time. I long for the day when we get a small bowl full.
My absolute favorite low-grower is ‘homestead’ verbena. That bright purple color is just stunning.
All of my blackfoot daisies are back again from last year. You just can’t beat these little guys for drought tolerance.
The alyssum is mounding up all over along the rock path already.

‘May night’ salvia can do great in the garden here, but my luck with them has been hit and miss. I love their low-growing form, but they are hard to get established.
Kallie’s window box is full of little pretties that I got last weekend at the Natural Gardener.
After some slacking last year, many of my irises are showing off for the first time. I don’t know the name of the purple or the white iris, though I believe the white one may be a pass along from Pam of Digging or Annie of The Transplantable Rose.

As always, Fletcher wanted to know what I was doing in the garden with that camera around my neck, so he had to come check out the salvia, too! I’m sure he thought there must be something edible in there!

We lost our sweet boy, Tanner, to cancer in November.

We adopted him from the Humane Society on my birthday, when he was just 8 weeks old.

Soft, cuddly and adorable, he stole our hearts.

He would have been 12 on New Year’s Day.

He was a great dog and my sweet boy. He was funny and willful and full of love. He followed me everywhere. And even at almost 12 years old, you could still bend down to his soft, fuzzy head and get a whiff of that sweet puppy smell that he never lost.

He was my Tan-man, Bubbie, Scooby, Bubs, Nudge, and Mr. Man-Man.

I had to wait this long to write this post, and it’s still making me cry with every word. He deserves a loving tribute.

I know he is lying in the sunshine, chasing squirrels, and taking long naps in doggie heaven with Sierra and Sami, and waiting for us all.

I’m not sure I will ever stop missing him.

While Dakota was enjoying being the only dog and getting lots of extra lovin’ to help me ease the hole in my heart, she didn’t want to go outside, she had no one to follow around and she seemed lonely. Happily lonely, according to my dear husband, but too solitary. (A little too much time spent in her bed!)

So, I set about looking for a friend for Dakota and another pup for which to be a forever family. After a lot of looking, Fletcher found his way into our hearts and our home. He’d been returned to a shelter by his adopted family when he was injured. (Sadly, weeks after not treating his injury) His foster family raved about him and here he is.

He’s housebroken, sits on command and has learned to play fetch and drop the ball in just a week. He’s also learned to go lie in his bed when I tell him to go away in the middle of the night. He’s a smart boy and a fast learner. (But, he’s still a puppy. I’d clearly forgotten how much work that is! I haven’t had to train a puppy since Sierra about 9-10 years ago.)

Fletcher loves to play, and despite the fact that Dakota (8) didn’t play much with Tanner because of his age, she does love to play and run (fly & leap) around the yard like a kid. She’s still a little put out at times, she gets jealous and wants to make sure she’s getting her fair share of lovin’. And she takes her responsibility as the older, alpha dog seriously. (Tanner was the alpha before.) She tells Fletcher when he’s annoying her and when he’s gotten too close. And, sadly, she’s already shown him her favorite places to dig up bulbs … sigh.

And, they play. They follow each other all around, checking out noises and people going by out front, romping around the yard, jumping and wrestling with each other. They enjoy each other. Even when they are both barking, growling, and howling at each other, those tails are wagging and they are having fun. He’s good for her. I knew he would be.

Even though I still have part of that hole in my heart, it’s good to share all that love with another homeless animal.

It’s what Tanner would have wanted.

Rest in peace, my sweet bubbie-boy.