Mid April 2014 - Status of the Garden & Yard

We had a visitor on our place this morning in the pool.  This is probably a Prairie Kingsnake according to some of my friends in the know - although it could also be a corn snake.  To me, it looks similar to a Copperhead.  Believe me, it swims very well on the surface of the water!  It was about 12" long.   Here are a couple of links to information about both of those snakes.  It is more likely the Prairie Kingsnake because of my location.
http://www.herpsoftexas.org/content/prairie-kingsnake

Here is some information about the corn snake:  http://www.herpsoftexas.org/category/taxon/serpentes/colubridae/pantherophis/pantherophis-guttatus

Below is a picture of a very unwelcome plant in my garden - I removed it this morning.  My husband is hyper allergic to Poison Ivy and his body cannot stop reacting to its oils unless he goes to the Doctor to get a shot of cortisone. Luckily, I have been immune all my life but I take care anyway to cover my skin when I cut it down, just in case my body decides to change its mind about not minding it.

REMEMBER - LEAVES OF 3 - LET IT BE!  POISON IVY!!

My Texas Gold Columbine plants are now in full bloom.

Blackberries are blooming.

The Cauliflower are starting to get heads!

Potatoes are coming up in the potato box!

We put up a trellis for the cucumbers to grow on this morning (they were planted today).

The Garlic and Chives are doing great!

The Thyme is very full and fragrant right now.  Catnip is behind it.

The whole garden.

Cabbages

 

 Tomatoes

The Roses are bursting with buds right now.  Next week they will be beautiful!

Our chickens love bananas!

The Pear tree is full of baby pears!

Baby Peaches!

And to end this post - this is the first year we have had baby almonds on our Almond tree!  The Almond tree is in the same family as the Peach tree and the leaves and young fruit are very similar looking.