Happy Spring...

And, we're pretty cold here, today.

But, maybe this cold front it Winter's last hurrah.

We just got back from a trip.

Did you miss us?

And, we came home to this.

I've been making some progress.

But, still LOTS more to clean up.

And, because the last Halloween Flood washed away all the mulch,

there will be that job to do, too.

Still...the plants are doing pretty well.

We even have some blooms.

 Mexican Honeysuckle

 Pansies, Primrose and 'Mushrooms'

Unknown Irises

Spiderwort

It's these beauties, that make me keep on working in the garden,

instead of throwing in the towel.

Today is supposed to be cool, but the sun is shining

and it's beautiful out there.

Hope your first day of Spring is just as beautiful.

Now...back to the weeding.....

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Wide Shot for Foliage Follow-Up...

I am way behind posting on here.

I'm late posting the

Wide Shot,

to share with Heather at 

Xericstyle.

But, since most of this garden is foliage,

I'll combine the Wide Shot with 

Foliage Follow-Up, with 

Pam at Digging.

This winter, has made a mess of some plants, like this Sago Palm.
There's still some green, so hoping it'll perk up with new growth.

The same for this Foxtail Fern, on the porch.
I've left the frozen parts, for protection.  But, I think it's about time
to get them outta there.

There are some places on this Golden Barrel, that look a bit bad.
But, it's still firm.  This poor thing was under water, for about six hours,
when we had the Halloween Flood.
Along with the cold, I'm surprised it looks this good.

Other things look almost un-touched by Winter.

This 'prickly pear' could be the wave of the future,
in Central Texas gardens.
The Rosemary and Mexican Feathergrass, have held up really well.

We replaced the Color Guard Yuccas that had either washed away,
or been messed with, by the deer.  Deer love to pull things up.
That's why we have old tomato cages over these.

I found a Sotol at Natural Gardener, on sale.
The girl said it just had 'cosmetic damage'.
Hope she was right.  There was only ONE good root, when
we planted this.  Then, it blew over, with our 40 mph wind, after this photo.
Now, it also has a tomato cage.

The pansies are doing really well.

And, the Rose Jasmine has been blooming.

We got a new bird bath, that we nestled in a Gold Dust Acuba.
I like the colors together.

And, another bird feeder.  It's been getting a lot of business.

These bags say 'mulch' on the back.
But, these are 2 cubic foot bags of garden soil.
We spread 20 of them...along with some bags of compost.
Whew!

I'm hoping that Spring will really arrive soon, and I can stop taking
these in and out of the garage.

And, finally...
guess who needs to go to the beauty parlor.
It's been too long.

That's what's going on here.
Be sure to visit Heather and Pam, for more good gardens.

And, oh...

Can anyone tell me what this is?
There are several coming up.  I'd say Texas Persimmon.  But, these have been green all winter.
Texas Persimmon doesn't stay green....the mature trees, anyway.
The acorn is to show the size of the leaf.

Hope you're having a good weekend.

***********
'Til later...
Take care...
~~Linda~~

Voted Off the Island....

Island, as in the bed between the circular drive, and the street.

Not exactly the most welcoming place around.

All that brown stuff is Vinca Minor...ground cover that has never looked all that good.

The old, rotten railroad ties had to go.

There needed to be some interest, for the first thing people see when they arrive.

So, all that ugly stuff was voted off the Island!

So...we had the vinca removed.  And, then we had a ton...literally...of 

chopped stone delivered.

And soon, things were looking better.

We hauled around some big stones, and built up a mound

with decomposed granite and soil.

In went the Yucca rostrata I got with my gift certificate

from Shoal Creek Nursery.

We put down some stepping stones to the birdbath.

Takes up room AND doesn't need to be watered.

So now, this view from the front porch, is transformed....

...to this.

From the street...

You get this.

At the south end...

...we put in a cold hardy palm.

The Salvia greggii, Hot Lips, went in the front...more will be added.

An Artemisia Powis Castle, was moved from another area.

Agave lophanthas were moved in, too.

I'm thinking more plants will go in next spring....

some grasses, maybe?

The palm gets tucked in under blankets each night.

Cold hardy or not...it hasn't been in the ground very long.

And, we've had lows in the 20s for several nights now.

Since the leaves on those Cedar Elms are finished falling, 

we'll be putting down mulch soon.

Then, we need to get started on this.  Another welcoming bed for the front.

It's the Never Ending Story...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~