Mid-April Means Flowers are Blooming and Bees are Swarming

On April 15, 2016 we had a bee swarm visit our bald cypress tree.  I noticed it AFTER I had mowed underneath it - that realization definitely gave me a start and made me be aware to be more observant!  Experience from a previous year makes us believe the bees will hang around for a couple of days and then move on.  Hopefully that happen this time as well.

The following morning it is still there.  If it hangs around for several days we'll call a beekeeper to come collect it.

One evening when I was watering the flowers on the front porch I spied this little green tree frog hanging out waiting to catch a meal.  I found a link to its evening croak.  I have definitely heard it!

http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/wildlife_diversity/texas_nature_trackers/amphibian_watch/media/green_treefrog_call.mp3

The red hot pokers in the front yard have started to bloom.  The hummingbirds have been hanging out regularly.

 

Our vegetable garden is coming along.  All of the seeds and starts have been planted.

 

Peppers and tomatoes. 

 Bush beans.

Cantaloupe and watermelon are just starting to peek out of the ground.

On to the April flowers.  An antique rose, this is  souvenir de la malmaison - this bush was severely damaged in last year's torrential rains - I had to severely cut it back.  At least it is blooming.

 This is my mammoth antique climbing rose.

 Another climbing antique rose.

 Mutabilis (butterfly rose) is also an antique climber.  This bush was also severely damaged last year and I had my son cut half of it away.  The rose petals turn different colors giving the impression of butterflies covering the bush.

The blackberry bushes are also in bloom.  We lost about one third of our bushes last year as well to the rains.

We should still be able to get enough blackberries for several pies this year.

The star jasmine vine is in full bloom and it smells wonderful each time you pass it.  It is an evergreen vine.

The purple wandering jew (or purple heart) is an excellent groundcover and it is in bloom now.

 The ladies always get up early.  We usually let them out in the late evening to wander about and look for bugs.

The front yard irises and roses are blooming well now.  

Red knock out rose that we planted a couple of years ago is finally blooming well.  The irises in this bed are ready to pop.

The red yuccas in the front bed are starting to send up red stalks.

The groundcover, Ajuga is blooming now.  I have it in full sun and it does well now, but I believe it is best planted in dappled sunlight.

I noticed the clematis is blooming when I was out mowing yesterday.  This vine is a perennial and comes back each year looking better and better.

And finally, a couple of sunrise pictures taken from our front porch.

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!