The location offers a great opportunity to observe them close up (and the cats love it) but unfortunately it's always in the shade, so the photos are always dark. (the blur at the top right hand side is a sticker on the door designed to prevent birds from flying into the glass)
Here's another garden visitor, a grey squirrel. I know a lot of people consider them pests, but I welcome them and they even have their own feeder.
A couple of weekends ago, Eric and I went out to Washington-on-the-Brazos and, on the way back, we stopped in at Fraziers in Hempstead. Wow - that place could be a whole post on its own! Talk about sensory overload! Every kind of garden ornament and statuary that you could wish for.
Eric's eyes rolled and glazed over as he envisioned hours of traipsing round trying to keep up with me as I oooh'd and aaaah'd over everything. In the end, he was lucky. I spotted this horse head Welcome sign after only 10 minutes or so and decided I would get it and come back on my own at a later date for a more intense browse.
In the bed where last year I had some tropical milkweed, this year I planted red Salvia coccinea "Texas Sage" and a bulbine. In addition, last year's Hot Trumpets Salvia has re-seeded and is doing well. The blue seed tray against the fence has some columbine seedlings. Although I planted several other types of seed, nothing much else is coming up yet.
Here's a close up of the bulbine blooms.
The little white trellis I got in Lowe's to hide the utility boxes really does the job. However, until now there wasn't much planted in front of it. I had some daffodils there this spring, and there was a White Gold Lantana. Everything else was in containers and I really wanted to start getting some things in the ground.
I made a start on it yesterday and added some Mealy Cup Sage as well as another bulbine. There's already a Marguerite Daisy growing off to the right so I think that the combination of blue/purple and yellow will look nice with the white lantana and the butterfly bush behind the trellis in summer.
Here's a close up of the Mealy Cup sage, which was already in bloom when I planted it.
Happy Easter to you all.
Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.
