Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mostly bluebonnets



Our neighbor's first bluebonnets....




Bladderpod.....

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Native plant sales this spring

Reprinted from the Native Plant Society of Texas

By

Searching for hard-to-find natives for that special spot in a garden bed? This time of year many Native Plant Society chapters sell plants to support their local projects. You can also find sales at botanical gardens and nature centers.

Now is a perfect time to add natives to your new or existing garden. We think you’ll enjoy seeing them in your landscape and watching the native pollinators return.

Here is a list of native plant sales coming up this spring that we know of.  

Monday, March 17, 2014

Yellow yellow yellow

Golden groundsel


Our agarita
Four-nerve daisy
Same golden groundsel
Same groundsel

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Gourds up and ready for purple martins


Yesterday, James spent several hours, working on our two natural gourds. He drilled out entrances and drain holes. 


Then I emptied out the seeds. There were SCADS of seeds! (Maybe we'll try planting some.) 



Next James put on a coat of white exterior latex paint. Plus two more coats. 

This afternoon, we hung them up! Now if YOU were a purple martin, wouldn't you be impressed with our new housing opportunities? We are!




Now we just have to wait and see. But we're betting someone notices and moves in. Last year, our martin couple moved in about mid April.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

First hummer!

James just spotted our first hummingbird of the season! I missed it–a male black chinned. We put up a feeder last Sunday. Welcome back!

Gourds!


Aren't they cool? I've been chatting with Tim in Alabama, who's hosted purple martins since he was NINE YEARS OLD! He suggested that we try using gourds this spring and nearly guaranteed that we'll get martins with them. So I ordered two from Front Porch Crafts (gourdgrower5 on eBay) in Horse Cave, Kentucky. We'll paint them white and drill entrance holes. Stay tuned!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Lost Ladybug Project


Harmonia axyridis, the multicolored Asian ladybug. Photographed Feb. 23, 2014, found inside our house and contributed to the ongoing Lost Ladybug Project at Cornell University.