Renewal

My husband's office is at the front of the house, looking out over the front garden. One day this week, when I got home from work, he pointed out of his window and said, "I think there's a bird nesting in the tree."

The tree in question is the small live oak we planted in May 2009 to replace the builder-planted one that had "drowned." Click here for my husband's amusing account of that adventure. 

Personally, I don't think it's nearly big enough to house a nest, but sure enough, there was a mockingbird industriously hopping to and fro with twigs.

Strange that she didn't just use the fairly substantial nest in the other live oak tree, 15 feet away. (See the dark clump in the middle? 

 

That tree housed a family of mockingbirds last year but our guest this year prefers more custom features and is building her own nest.


I hope she keeps working on it, because looking at it close up, I'd say there's a good chance any eggs would fall through the bottom as it is right now!

 Here are both trees seen from the street. (This post gets its title from the fact that these trees, and a lot of other things in the garden, are covered in new, bright green leaves.)

Underneath the small live oak, the little clump of bluebonnets is in full bloom.

I hope I get more of these next year.  This self-seeded, but I think I'll try and collect some seeds to give it a helping hand next year.

In the back garden, the Star (Scentless) Jasmine is covered in buds. This vine is growing rampantly and will need to be trimmed this year.  I just need to make sure I do it at the right time of year and that I don't kill it in the process!  The scented Star Jasmine, growing next to it, is much smaller still but is also starting to bloom and grow.

In the back garden, I had pulled out a bunch of weed that was growing in with the homestead verbena.  Apparently I missed this one (which is actually in the lawn - the verbena has spread about 2 feet beyond the border) and I'm glad I did! I love the color combination!  Looking around the lawn, there's a lot more of it but it got mowed last night, so it won't get a chance to flower.

Finally, on the patio, I had pinched the fuschia back to remove the seed pods, and had given it a little fertilizer.  It's now rewarding me with a second flush of blooms.  They aren't as big as the first round, but I'm happy to see them anyway.

I hope you are all seeing signs of renewal in your spring gardens. 

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - March 2011

It seems like it's been a while since I did a post for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, hosted on the 15th of each month by Carol of May Dreams Gardens.  

When I don't post it's for one of two reasons.  Either there is nothing -- zip, zilch and nada -- blooming in my garden that particular month on the 15th, or I just plain forget.

And here I am at 9:50 pm on the 15th and I just remembered about it!  So here are my offerings, humble though they may be compared to some. 

To see what else is blooming around the world, visit Carol's blog at the top of this post.

First, the fuschia I showed you a couple of weeks ago in my Dancing Ballerinas post is still blooming, although it's winding down now. I'm glad I spotted this at the store. Even if it only lasts a few weeks, I think it has been worth it.

In the front garden, the daffodils have finished blooming but I won't cut them back just yet -- I'll wait until the leaves are yellow and then tidy them up.  Around them, the pansies are still going strong.

These are Matrix Purple and Yellow Splotch (love that name).  They are so reliable, nothing fazes them.  Even the deer/rabbit or whatever it was that nibbled them back to nubs a couple of months ago couldn't kill them.

And waiting in the wings, the little Texas Bluebonnet is growing nicely.  I don't see any flower buds on it yet, which is rather disheartening, considering I'm seeing them in bloom along the side of the freeway already.  I'll keep hopeful though, and perhaps it will reseed some more for next year.

In the back garden, it's just the same old stuff I've had blooming for the past couple of weeks.

The Homestead verbena (seen above with a companion weed) is surfacing from under the pile of nijer thistle seed the birds dumped on it and has lots of blooms coming out.

I suppose it's just as well it made it through the winter safely because the cuttings I took last fall didn't make it :-(

 Anyway, that's what I have blooming in my garden this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. 
 



Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.