In the garden

As our self-isolation continues, I seek and find daily solace in my garden. There is always something happening there.

In the front garden, the Dietes, popularly called "butterfly iris" around here, are beginning to bloom next to the old birdbath.

Can you see a resemblance between the bloom and a butterfly?

The camellia is nearing the end of its bloom cycle but still has a few blossoms.

This Encore azalea is named 'Autumn Lily' but could just as rightly be called 'Spring Lily.'

Hibiscus and dianthus blooming together.

In the backyard, the muscadine grape vines are beginning to green up.

And the loquat tree is loaded with fruit. Know any good recipes using loquats?

Our warm weather recently has brought out the frogs. They serenade us with their nightly chorus. This one is a southern leopard frog.

And this is a little green tree frog trying to make itself invisible against a crinum leaf.

My husband recently weeded the bottle tree bed for me, but when it came to this particular "weed," he hesitated. He thought it was pretty and so he left it. It is actually a native wildflower called Texas groundsel that had seeded itself in the bed. I have a pretty much laissez-faire policy toward wildflowers that make themselves at home in my planting beds. I tend to leave them there.

This is another wildflower that seeded itself in one of my beds last year and now it has come back again. It is called Philadelphia fleabane.

The Tufted Titmice are my constant companions when I'm in the garden. They sing to me all day long.

This one stopped by my little fountain to get a drink.

The cleaned out and reconfigured bottle tree bed still needs a lot of work. Bottle trees are a traditional southern garden decoration with origins, like so many southern cultural traditions, in Africa. The bottles can be any color or a mix of colors but the traditional color is blue. In folklore, the bottle tree was said to protect the home from"haints" or evil spirits.

The 'Belinda's Dream' rose is just about to be full of blooms.

This bud is almost completely open.

In the little backyard fish pond, the water lilies are beginning to come back. That gives the goldfish a place to hide which makes them happy. They get quite nervous when there's no cover for them.

I cut the oleander back hard in late winter, but it seems to have forgiven me now.

The red columbine sports one little bloom, but there is promise of more to come.

Snapdragons are still looking snappy.

The yellow cestrum is full of blooms.

My daughter picked up this clematis ('Niobe') for me from a local nursery on Sunday. It's still sitting in its black plastic pot on my patio table, but tomorrow for sure I will get it planted.

A pretty little Painted Lady butterfly came calling today.

This 'Apple Blossom' amaryllis will be fully open by tomorrow.

Where do you find solace in these troubled times? Wherever it is, I hope you are keeping safe and well.

This week in the garden

I'm still reading The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel. It's a very long book and full of informative details. It takes close reading which makes it slow - but very enjoyable - work. I say all that to explain that I don't have a review for you this week and so, instead, I offer this placeholder.

In addition to being slow reading, my progress on the book has been slowed because I've been spending quite a lot of my daytime hours in the garden. It is that time of year, after all. The garden demands my attention after its (relatively short) winter nap.

 In the vegetable garden, the curly kale is at its sweet and succulent best.

The sugar snap peas on their trellis are just beginning to bloom. They need to get a move on. Spring is heating up fast.

 Next to the vegetable garden, the wild blackberries are beginning to plump up.

The green anoles are out and about. This one enjoys a sunbath while resting on one of my succulent plants.

 The gerbera daisies are beginning to bloom.

 Is there any sunnier bloom anywhere?

Do these blooms really look like kangaroo paws? At any rate, that is their common name.

There is a Northern Mockingbird war going on in my backyard. Two pairs are vying for control. This one dares you to try to take "his" seeds!

Just a week ago the redbud tree was full of blooms. Now it is full of tiny leaves as it begins to green up.

The Japanese maple is putting out leaves and blooms, but at a much slower rate than the redbud.

The male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are passing through. They usually lead the migration with the females and first-year birds following.

The amaryllis bulbs that I've planted in the garden over the years are just getting ready to bloom.

This canna has been trying to come back since January. Twice it got nipped back by cold weather, but that won't happen this time.

 Autumn sage, spring sage, every season sage - the Salvia greggii is in bloom.

 It comes in raspberry pink, too.

 A Red Admiral butterfly rests on the emerging lantana.

 The lime sedge seems to glow in its shaded bed.

The Carolina Wrens have been hard at work building a nest in the bluebird box outside my kitchen window. They abandoned it once before. We'll see if they follow through this time.

 The yarrow is in full bloom now.

I used to see nothing but fox squirrels in my yard but a couple of years ago they began to be displaced by the gray squirrels. Now I see nothing but grays - no more fox squirrels.

On its trellis by the garden shed, my 'Peggy Martin' rose is in its glory at the moment.

There you have it - a walk through my garden at mid-week and I hope to have that review for you in a few days!

A pre-Bloom Day look at the garden

I will be on the road later this week and away from my garden on June 15, or Bloom Day as it is known to garden bloggers around the world, so here is a pre-Bloom Day look at what's blooming in my garden this month.

It's almost summer and the summer phlox is in bloom.

There are lots of white blooms in the garden this month. They help to bring a note of coolness to my hot garden space.

There's almond verbena with its wonderful scent. Too bad I don't have smell-a-blog.

The white crinums are blooming.

And so is the white 'Texas Star' swamp hibiscus.

And the datura, sometimes called devil's trumpet or moonflower.

But here's the real moonflower, and, yes, it's still blooming, too. 

The beautyberry bloom is not much to look at; the real attraction is the colorful berries that come later.

This pretty little white flower is blooming in my wildflower bed. I'm not sure what it is called, but I think it is some kind of alyssum.

Also in the wildflower bed is this prairie coneflower.

And this black-eyed Susan.

Speaking of coneflowers, here's the purple one.

And the red one.

Many of the sunflowers are at their best and brightest just now.

This pale one is another bloomer in the wildflower bed.

This one is a native wildflower, as well. It is fully twelve feet tall and covered with these blossoms.

The Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) is blooming.

And so is the angel wing begonia.

Justicia 'Orange Flame'.

The 'Lady of Shallott' rose has been a real winner for me.

I love this little ornamental pepper. It was a "volunteer" in the garden, reseeded from a plant that I had last year.

More from the wildflower bed - blanketflower.

Blanketflowers, sneezeweed, and black-eyed Susans.

Also in the wildflower bed - I don't know its name but I think it is some kind of scabiosa.

And here's a poppy, also from the wildflower bed. Love poppies! 

Its popular name is horsemint and butterflies love it.

A red coreopsis, also from the wildflower bed.

And speaking of red, here's 'Darcy Bussell' rose.

The 'Cashmere Bouquet' clerodendrum bloom will soon be completely open.

The dependable blue plumbago.

'Belinda's Dream' rose, a bit past its prime.

Anisacanthus wrightii, aka flame acanthus, is blooming and that makes the sulphur butterflies happy. 

The crinum 'Ellen Bosanquet' is starting to bloom.

i've never grown hostas because I was convinced they wouldn't do well here, but I decided to give them a try this spring. So far, so good, and as a bonus, I get this pretty flower. 

The summer garden would not be complete without marigolds.

'Pride of Barbados.'

Delphiniums.

Behind the garden shed, the big elderberry shrub is blooming.

Cypress vine, a ubiquitous summer bloomer in my garden.

Yellow yarrow.

Dahlia.

Variegated Turk's cap.

On the patio table, a pot of portulaca, aka moss rose, brightens the space.

This 'Endless Summer' hydrangea has all blue flowers, except for this one pink one. What's up with that?

Blue potato bush.

And finally, our recent rains have induced my Texas sage shrub to flower.

It has covered itself in these luscious blooms.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be taking a short "blogcation." I hope you'll miss me and that you'll come back when I return in just over a week.