Is it Spring Yet?

Ribbitt...Ribbitt...this sedge grass in the pond is a great place to sit and watch for spring..

I can see daffodils blooming..

The violas are lush and smelling good..

Pansies have been pretty all winter (did we really have winter?)..

Hum....that hanging basket is new..

And there are petunias by the fence...
And..is that bluebonnets? Yep! They are blooming along with that purple homestead verbena!

And do I see red? I believe I do...that is the start of Indian Paintbrush. Great place to hide when it gets tall. Don't think the calendar says Spring yet, but I think Spring is here in Texas. Maybe after one more nap I will explore a bit. Ribbitt..Ribbitt...

Gardening Nightmares!

Usually at this time of year I am watching this bed around the Chinese Pistache tree..
watching the bluebonnets grow. Not this year. Instead, I am watching the weeds grow--namely the wild carolina geraniums. Oh I am so mad about all these weeds. I wish you could see how thick they are.
You can see this bluebonnet in the middle of the mess, but this plant is a nice one--most of the bonnets are tiny. There are red poppies planted here as well. I can hardly find them! Grrrr..have I mentioned how angry I am right now!
So this afternoon, I started the tedious job of trying to dig up all the weeds, while trying to pull out the bonnets and poppies and re-plant. This is a job! The roots of the weeds have literally wrapped around the real wildflowers smothering them. It is garden MURDER!! Someone call the garden police! As I sit here trying to calm myself (think a glass of wine would help!) I am thinking I will start tomorrow just digging everything up. If I can save a few bonnets and poppies, great-but if not, so be it. Then as soon as I can, I will get mulch on this area. But..I want to plant zinnia seeds in late spring, and seeds need to touch the dirt...oh my goodness, have I told you how mad and upset I am right now?


So here is my warning--if you see anything in your garden that looks like this--pull it out NOW! It is not wine cup as I thought 2 years ago--it is a wild geranium that will literally take over your garden. When I looked this up on google, the site had a "weed warning" label across the top, so apparently I am not the only gardener with a problem. I am not sure how the weed came to my garden; perhaps rode in with the Pistache tree. But it is time to hit the road you bad, bad geranium! And don't come back!!

Feeding the birds

Hello everyone--Happy New Year to you!
Not much going on here in my part of Texas. We are on a constant roller coaster with our weather. Some days it is cold and gray; some days it is cold and clear; other days it warms up to the 60's. Not much going on in the garden either these winter months, however one of my favorite pastimes is very active. I love feeding the birds..especially yellow finches! And I must have some really tasty thistle as these little birds are at the feeders every morning and stay most of the day. This picture is taken from my breakfast window-these cuties would run (well, fly) if I ventured out to take their picture. Normally the finches I see have on their winter colors of brown-not as much yellow as I am seeing this year. Hum...sign of the La Nina we are experiencing maybe?
I actually put up 2 feeders wondering if they had a preference. When they first arrived, they only went to the yellow feeder, but as more and more birds appeared, both feeders stay full of diners. We enjoy our little feathered friends every morning as we sit at the kitchen table with coffee. We have other feeders in the yard for the sparrows, black-capped chickadees, jays and cardinals. (Oh...guess I should mention squirrels-they think that food is for them!) But our very favorites are the yellow finches. They will only be here a short time as our summers are way too hot for them. And while they are our guests, their feeders will remain full!
Do you feed the birds in the winter...what is your favorite?