Reigning Queen of the Garden

Lily lords it over the land, sitting regally on her thronely stump. She is thinking, "I rule over all I survey; I must see further so my kingdom will grow! Why, oh why, am I limited to this stumpish throne?"

'Get over yerself Yertle', I say, and inside we go.

Signs of Life

The gentle rain is doing a great job coaxing out new baby growth. Right now I practically need a microscope to see some of them, but the real test is always: when can I see the new growth from the kitchen window.
Check it out!
Pomegranate




Day lily

Red Rose bush

Lady Banks Rose bush

Chinese Witch Hazel/Razzleberri/Fringe flower

Rock Rose...

Peach fuzz on the peach buds

fig with green tips and bark that looks like rhino armor.

Little blades of Green! Hurray!

I am so happy to see all the green reappearing. I feel like every part of my being is expanding and reviving right along with the plants in this soft warm weather. And yes, the grass is poking out some green blades after a vigorous raking. See? Look closely. Go on, enlarge the picture... there IS green there, I promise.

Also, you can see the froth of new greenery on the Lady Banks Rose, sparkling in the sun. Everything seems content.

And I was feeling so discouraged about the garden and I didn't really know why, because I know things go brown and dormant in the winter. But as part of my raking and rejuvinating of the grass, I moved the big, ugly, red, metal thing (see Dec. 30th post "Invasion of the Rebounder") off to an unobtrusive place round the side, and low and behold the garden was transformed! That darn thing had felt like a cage! WHAT was I thinking, that this would be a lovely Christmas present for our youngest. Note to self, "electronic xbox games are much easier on the garden, and do we really care if they get ouside and run around and breath the fresh air?? I think not!"

You Stole My Heart!

Why, yes we certainly did! Glenn and I went for a walk the other day, and there was a cactus by the side of the road with an absolute honey of a

pad.... So we took it, getting only slightly wounded in the process. Yup, true love can be very thorny at times.

xoxox

I think, just maybe, Spring has Sprung

I hope I'm not jumping the gun here, but I am seeing buds on bushes and trees. Granted, you have to put your face within about an inch of the potential proof of the imminence of spring, but just look at that peach bud! I mean, that is a bud, right? Whoo hoo bring it on spring, I want to wallow in the garden!

Dew-laden spider webs

Lots of tiny wonders in the grass today. These little webs have practically perfect strings of dew along them, and you can see the shape of the web so clearly. Fun, eh?
They remind me of those old clothes-lines that have a center pole and lines that circle around the frame... you can turn them to hang your clothes... are you following me?

Happy Rose Bush

As part of the spring clean-up I turned over the dirt in many of the beds and peered closely at all the plants to see which showed signs of life and which had been frozen out of existence by our oh-so-harsh Texas winter.

The roses, I am happy to say, are popping out some lovely little fresh leaves, and I am sure that the misty rain this morning followed by warm sunshine in the afternoon, was making all the plants stir and stretch and smile.

Moth in the Grass

I went out today and began my post winter clean-up. It was a stupendously beautiful day.
The morning was soft and gray and wet and reminded me of England. "Close your eyes and think of England, dear " But I digress.
Anyway, I started to give the lawn its spring back-scratch. I can only do a certain amount at a time, before my arms give out, but it was just as well that I didn't get to this patch of grass, as I might have raked up this well-camouflaged fellow.

Jack Frost

The garden just looks nasty right now. There really is no other word for it. So I have to resort to putting pictures of the reason for the nastyness, that being the frosty weather, and ironically, the frostiness itself is quite enchanting... But remember what your mother told you about not trusting a charming exterior, you know, wolf in sheeps clothing, that sort of thing? Didn't your mother say that to you?? Was it only MY mother?! Oh well, I don't think I learned my lesson because I am charmed by these cold and hurtful ice crystals. I feel a little guilty because my beautiful bulbine looks all slimy and blackened and gross, and I KNOW who the culprit is, and yet here I am enamoured of its beauty and displaying it for the world.

More Alamo Vine

The Alamo Vine is of course completely enchanting in the snow. I love you Alamo Vine!

Plant Patterns

The dried and frozen leaves of the 'Blue Daze' plants make a beautiful pattern against the snow I think.

Archimedes is NOT in residence

We have wondered for a while now if Archimedes could still be there after no sightings for quite some time. But, unless he is not related in any way to Old Mr. Brown, it is unlikely that he is sharing the house with this cheeky little squirrel nutkin....

Shivering Vegetables

The humanoids that enjoy the garden were all VERY excited to have a snow day, but I am not sure that the vegetables felt the same way...
That being said, I am sure that if any can survive these conditions, it would be the (still) teeny, tiny cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage.