The Nature of Things

Home again, just in time to greet spring.  As we traveled east on our way home from the mountains of West Texas, the landscape around us got greener and greener. The wildflowers along the roadway verges were in full bloom, a riot of colors - bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, coreopsis, and many others. ( Thank you, Lady Bird! ) And as we arrived in our own backyard, we found that spring had already got there before us.  The old azalea was in full bloom. The redbud that had just begun to bloom when we left ten days ago had already passed its peak and dropped some of its blossoms but there were still plenty left. The Indian hawthorn was in full bloom. And so was the coral honeysuckle. The autumn sages are beginning to bloom. Here's the raspberry. And here's the red.  'Belinda's Dream' rose has fat buds that are just about ready to open. While 'Old Blush,' the antique rose, has been blooming for a while now. And 'Peggy Martin' has many of these little nos...

Finally! My garden has a few (almost) spring blooms opening up. Carolina jessamine. Bees of all kinds do love those jessamine flowers. Poppies. More poppies. And more poppies. And still more. Purple oxalis blooms just beginning to peek out. Sweet alyssum. Loropetalum chinense (Chinese fringeflower). I love these fringy fuchsia-colored flowers. Daffodils, of course. Some in yellow. And some in white. Scabiosa (pincushion flower). The flowers are actually a bit more blue than they appear in the image. These flowers just confirm that spring really is beginning to peek over the horizon.