Morning light and other inspiration

These last two are the view from my kitchen sink. Washing dishes has never been so dreamy!

The Pretty and the Not So Pretty

So, that was the pretty, 20 stems of iris from the grocery store yesterday. All closed up tight until they started bursting open last night. Next up: one of many not-so-pretty dirt beds around the backyard. Dug in some compost and planted some of the iris I rescued from foundation work last summer, along with new plants: rosemary, fragrant white mistflower, pavonia, a Martha Gonzales rose, and my go-to, Mexican feathergrass. Left in the not-so-pretty volunteer sunflowers just because it'll take everything else a while to get interesting. Everything looks a little better when mulched. So, here was the dill a week and a half ago: And for reference, my dog's fairly large. My sister pulled up the dill yesterday, and the veggie garden looks very different. Poor kale was struggling to get sun. Added compost, okra, and a jalapeno to the veggie bed today, and I'm hoping things get enough sun now that the pecans have leafed out. Just have to wait and see...

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: April 2012

So, the front yard planting seem to be settling in happily, but they're all just a couple weeks old. From the top: gaura, gregg's mist (butterfly favorite), burgundy hibiscus, and firecracker fern This abutilon was an impromptu purchase as I was hurrying through Natural Gardener today in the cold, semi-expected rain; I think I'll put it in the shade in front of the porch. Nandina and Mexican petunias are survivors Dill gone seedy; it had gotten pretty beastly, shading out everything else, so it got pulled this afternoon. Volunteer tomato; I wonder what type this will be... Honeysuckle on my neighbor's fence. Next up to bloom: trumpet vine, magnolia and crepe myrtle

Wildflowers at Walnut Creek

The bluebonnets are going to seed, but there are plenty of other wildflowers bursting onto the scene. And the entire park is perfumed with honeysuckle. Below, another one of the weird caterpillars I keep finding: dying or transforming? Hard to tell.

Vegetable garden and some orange

Kale, shallot and dill from the winter veggie garden, now being shaded by the pecan trees. Thrown into a mixed salad. And found some orange cages for the tomatoes to liven up the new full-sun veggie bed up front. Hoping this will be the first time I'm part of a garden with plentiful tomatoes!

Mysterious field of poppies

Decided to walk north along the Shoal Creek trail instead of south today, and look what I found! If it's not obvious from my new header, I'm a huge fan of the poppy. And of finding a "secret" meadow of wildflowers (lots of scarlet flax and other blooms here, too). And crushed by a bicyclist, still a bright spot of color.