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Saturday, March 26, 2016

Spring has Sprung - 2016

My posts have been slowing down because I've been devoting significant amounts of time to getting 20 years worth of family pictures published in photo albums.  However, I have been noticing that flowers are blooming and creatures are getting ready to start families in my yard.  Here are a few pictures of the changes I've observed for Spring 2016.

The first blooms of the season are the daffodils.

 We had an amazing sunrise one morning.  This is the shot of the clouds from the backyard.

From the front yard - this is a shot to the east.





Tadpoles have already transformed into baby frogs.

We had so many frogs last year because of all the rain.  My husband found a lot of dead frogs that became mummified.


 Our burr oak had a lot of acorns last year.  Here is one that started to sprout.

Our wisteria tree is in full bloom this year.  The first time since we planted it about 7 years ago.

The purple martins have returned - we have 4 families so far.


My husband found a beautiful silk moth Antheraea polyphemus on the evening of March 22nd.   It's wing span was 5".
 




 All four of our hens are now laying.  They all have different colored eggs.

 At sunset they hunt for bugs. 


The garden at sunset.

The onions continue to grow and do well.  We are going to have to replace some tomatoes and peppers.  We had one morning with a temperature of 35 and a light frost.  I'm going to the store today.

First large rose blooming this spring!

The mutabulis antique rose is blooming.  We lost half of this rose last year because of all the heavy rain.

The grape hyacinths are blooming.



 The salvia and indian hawthorne are starting to bloom as well.

All the irises and daylillies are coming up now.  None are starting to bloom yet.  The red knock out rose on the left is blooming now.

This is a picture of the blooming chinese fringe flower (lorolpetalum) in the front yard.


Merlin enjoys his visits to the garden.  Catnip.

He even likes oregano.

And finally, a picture of Festus who enjoys being on the back porch in the springtime!



Friday, January 15, 2016

First Post of the New Year 2016 - Outside and Inside

Happy New Year 2016!  This is an entry into my garden journal on the status of both outdoor and indoor gardens this year.

We started cleaning up the vegetable garden so that we could mix in compost in a few weeks.  We'll be planting the cool season garden in mid-February. 


We let some broccoli go to flower.  We have lots of bees now because it has been so warm.
That is a red Knock Out rose behind the vegetable garden.  It is in full bloom.
 

The oregano is going gangbusters now too.

We planted cauliflower last fall and some of them are now finally putting on heads.


The trailing rosemary is also in full bloom and attracting lots of bees!

We have had such a warm winter.  The climbing roses are in bloom!



This antique rose in the front yard has several blooms on it along with all the rose hips.

The Old Blush antique rose is also in full bloom.

It is incredible that the asparagus fern is still going strong, even in January.

Since it is wintertime I made several terrariums so I would have a bit of green in the house.

I took the lid off the terrarium so it would be easier to see inside.  However, I keep these terrariums totally enclosed and never have to add water.  I make sure that the base has a thick layer of gravel to allow for good drainage.  I also add a layer of charcoal to keep the soil sweet.

I collect minerals and fossils and decided to include this picture since it shows some of my rock collection.






I also bought a new plant that is in the African Violet family.  Episcia - otherwise known as the flame violet.




Saturday, December 5, 2015

The 12 Days of Christmas at the Dallas Arboretum - 2015

Today, December 5, 2015, we visited the beautiful gardens at the Dallas Arboretum.  The weather was perfect.  Clear skies, no wind, and 58 degrees for an afternoon temperature.


At the entrance.

 Across the street are the ticket booths. 

A Partridge in a Pear Tree.



Many of the azaleas were in full bloom - in December!


Two Turtle Doves




 

Two more Turtle Doves!

Three French Hens

 















 Four Calling Birds.
 


Five Golden Rings.

 Six Geese A Laying.


Seven Swans a Swimming.














Eight Maids a Milking.
 

9 Ladies Dancing.



Ten Lords A Leaping.

 

 Eleven Pipers Piping.






Twelve Drummers Drumming.






The crepe myrtles have beautiful smooth bark.  Perfect shapes in the wintertime after the leaves have fallen.





You can see Dallas high rises across White Rock Lake.



As we were leaving - we saw some very beautiful clouds in the sky - they looked like angels.