Mid April Flowers

I coerced Dave into taking a few photos of my front garden bed!

Guara in the foreground, Jerusalem sage mid way and Knock Out rose in the back.  I could spend all day enjoying the colors!

I am not sure what type of rose this is, as I was given it.  But it blooms once per year in the spring, and it looks and smells gorgeous!

 I now know why they call these Butterfly Blue Pincushion.  A this time of year, I have seen multiple butterflies feasting on its nectar.  THis appears to be a Gray Hairstreak butterfly.

And here is a backward glance at the south portion of my front garden.

Mr Blue Jay

Last summer, the boys made and bought me some bird feeders to add to the back yard.  We have been enjoying lots of cardinals, goldfinches, titmice, chickadees and morning doves.  But until this month, we had not yet seen Kyle's favorite bird, the blue jay.

This month, one finally discovered the peanuts in our feeder!  He/She now comes multiple times a day, steals a nut from the feeder, and then flies to the Bur Oak to enjoy it.

Here he/she is getting ready to grab a nut!

Black Foot Daisies and Cream de Mint Pittosporum

I have been looking at a hole in my front garden bed, and knew I wanted to fill it in with something... I just didn't know what.

Then I saw a video from Robin Mayfield on Facebook, where she glowed about her Creme De Menthe Pittosporum.  I loved their look, and knew they'd be perfect in my empty hole.  

The next day, I happened to dee Cream de Min Pittosporum at Lowe's, of all places.  Which is good, because with the pandemic, no other nurseries are open.

I picked up two shrubs (I may go back and get one more).  

Now fingers crossed I can keep them alive.  I did try root washing them, but their roots were very fin, so I hope I did not do more harm then good.

I also picked up two Blackfoot Daisies.  I love the cheery white of Blackfoot daisies.  Mine all seem to die after three to four years, but I decided I wanted them any way.  I really love the look of this part of the garden, which was always a bit of an eye ore (to me).

Week 2 of Flowers

April is a wonderful time in Texas!  Every week, my garden has something new to celebrate.

My front bed, that was full of blues and purple last week from my bluebonnets and verbena, has now added a pop of yellow from the Jerusalem sage and Calyolophus.

Jerusalem Sage is now one of my go-to plants.  It is as tough as nails, gorgeous in the spring, and adds a nice bit of fuzzy grey-green the rest of the year.  Plus it is a very fast grower.  The one above is the first one I planted four years ago.  The one in the front bed is two or three years old, and I have just planted two more in my new beds.  

In the back bed, a brand new climbing Blaze rose is in bloom.  Dave found this guy sitting forlornly in the clearance section of Lowes, and picked it up for. A great example of why I always prefer a potted plant to a bouquet of flowers.  A year later and his gift is still bringing me smiles :)

Whirling Guara used to not be a favorite of mine, until I learned that it looks way better planted en masse, than as a single flower.  So now I have two different lines of them in my front bed.  Another tough-as-nails plant!

And below is another look at my little roadrunner statue.  last week he was surrounded by blue and purple.  Today there is a pop of yellow to light his back!  You can hardly even seem him, in the middle of this photo.

Spring 2020 Flowers

My front garden bed has really filled in, and is full of color this spring!  In another week, the jerusalem sage and calylophus will be in bloom, adding lots of yellow to the mix!

Two years ago, I dug up a bunch of irises from my my mother-in-laws garden. Her backyard is almost in complete shade, so they did not bloom for her.  last year, I didn't get any blooms.  This year, they are full of blooms!

A new plant for me, Leopard's Plant (Ligularia), it is a full shade plant, that requires a lot of water its first year.  We will see if I can keep it alive!

 Foxglove Penstemon in my backyard side garden. Dave threw a bunch of wildflower seeds down when we first moved here.  These are the only flowers that grew.  I have since transplanted many of them to be in my garden

The little roadrunner my mom gave me a few years ago is almost invisible among the blue bonnets and verbena!

i love these little flowers, they get almost no attention and are pretty much bulletproof!  Always bringing a sweet dancing yellow to my garden!