Ok, this is just plain crazy.
Today it was 47 with 25 mph winds and raining. It was the kind of day that makes you want to stay inside and curl up with a good book.
No, I’m not writing about ketchup. The most exciting thing, after the long wait of winter, is finally seeing mini green shoots and sprouts, peeking out from mulch and dead leaves.
I’m all aquiver with the anticipation of plants yet to come, so I thought I’d share my eagerness with you. (Unfortunately, they just plain don’t photograph as well as blooms and full-grown plants!)
Ok, this isn’t really a test, but if you don’t scroll all the way to the bottom of the pictures, you can guess what’s peeking out, looking for Spring! Tell me how many you get right!
‘Victoria Blue’ Mealy Cup blue sage (Salvia farinacea)
Un-identified lilies — I’ll post about these later when they
‘Gold Star’ Esperanza (Tecoma Stans)
‘Trailing lavender’ lantana (Lantana montevidensis)
An unidentified wildflower in the ditch on our dog-walk!
‘New Gold’ yellow lantana (Lantana camara)
‘Black and Blue’ Salvia (Salvia guaranitica)
Coreopsis of some sort, I think!Did you guess any of them? (I know – a few baby leaves isn’t much to go on! And I can’t even name them all and I planted them ; )
Ok, I cannot remember whose blog it was on (I have a terrible memory – please forgive me — and tell me who it was!), but a few weeks ago I commented on a post about Valentine Garden Geeks. And while I didn’t fit the bill there, I do now!
I celebrated my birthday this week and I wanted to share with you some of my lovely garden-related gifts. You might guess that my five-year-old daughter — the girliest of girls imaginable — picked out the fluorescent pink bird feeder for me (with her Dad’s help.)
They both picked out these terrific little snippers – perfect for deadheading and small plant pruning. I can’t wait to try them out!
And my DH, who always uses knee pads, got me these to ease the bending.
My Mom and Dad got me this little garden fella — he’s a hand carved bird feeder. A tad heavy for the branches we have to hang him on, so he either needs a special mount or we may just leave him leaning against the tree on the ground. He’s kinda cute there!
And here is my “big” birthday gift. Many of you have already met Artemis, who now graces the front of a fedgling new garden bed. Mom and Dad also gave me a huge ferm to put in her head, but she has a tiny little head and it didn’t fit. So, the coral/salmon geraniums will stay there for now. They brighten up that end of the path, anyway, don’t you think?
I’d say this plethora of garden goodies makes me a Garden Geek…don’t you agree?!
I teased you with a Texas mystery tree in my last post. Well, these are native Texas Mountain Laurels – just starting to bloom. Mine are about 4 feet tall. The two full-tree photos are from more established trees in our neighborhood, and they are well protected – by the house – thus they are in full bloom a little earlier than some others.
On the food network, Emeril says he wishes we had “smell-avision.” Well, I wish we had scent-blogs! The floral scent of these lovely trees is so heady and beautiful, I wish I could share it with you. For now, these photos will have to do!
Well, this is definitely the good! This photo was taken last August — it was Kallie’s first day of Kindergarten. You can see the soft morning light and the wonderfully green Mexican Flame Vine, Morning Glories, Mexican Mint Marigold, Purple Coneflower, and Lantana.
Here’s what the fence looks like right now. Everything is brown and dead. I see no signs of life in this bed yet. I’m hopeful that the flamevine will be perennial and come back, along with the coneflower an the lantana. I sprinkled some of the dead seedheads around the existing dead coneflower to help Mother Nature a little bit 😉
Guess you can tell from this post that I wasn’t in the yard today. A cold, blowing 20 mph wind and 58 degree high kept me indoors – drawing on a landscape plan in the morning and sitting at the automotive shop getting a new tire for 2 hours in the afternoon. (I feel lucky that I found the leak (a screw) and didn’t get stuck somewhere.)
Tomorrow, I’ll have some pretty pictures of Texas native tree for you – can you guess what what it might be?