Gardens

It was an exceptionally beautiful Sunday. The carillion bells at Villa De Mateo woke me about 6 and I watched the sun rise from the upstairs window. As it was getting light, the birds arrived to remind me their feeders are low. They empty three large canisters in a day.


I enjoyed a leisurely morning reading the paper in the hammock and listening to the wind chimes and the fountain. After that late killing freeze we had, I had to cut so much back. It is just starting to bud and bloom. Come August, the yard will be back to the full tropical jungle that I love.

This is the staghorn fern I got from "Jerry's Jungle" north of Houston last Saturday. I looked at a few websites, mostly from Florida for instructions and advice on attaching them to a tree and put it on the cedar tree in the backyard. It was fairly straightforward once I determined a position I was pleased with.






I dug in the hostas that were in pots a few weekends ago. They are the small dark leafy plant with white edging in the foreground planted around the base of the oak. They will grow into nice glossy mounds and will fill in completely by summer.

How to decorate a telephone pole. I got the tin yard art in Wimberly Texas because it reminded me of the 3 Harris girls. The vine is Sweet Pea. In a few months, it will be covered with pink blooms.
The gardener's assistant hopping over hostas.




Front Yard

Pansies that are still braving the heat.
The light green low bushes in the foreground of the 2 pictures above are Plumbago. They are real butterfly magnets. I have been checking them daily for signs of flower buds.Look what I found today! Buds! This was the inspiration to fetch my camera and take some pictures.

Well, I can't get this picture rotated, so rotate your head 45 degrees. This is a Bird of Paradise in the front that produced 6 huge white and cobalt blue "birds" for me this year. This is the last remaining flower.