The name says it all

Well, almost. The name Barbados cherry (dwarf) doesn't mention the dainty, beautiful pink blooms that appear before the cherries.

Five new trees

Our native plant friends, Linda and Ron, gave us this baby wafer ash.

We bought this Mexican buckeye at this month's native plant sale at the Wildflower Center.

We love our Lindheimer's senna (not pictured) so we bought this tree senna (de-planted March 2015), which is native to Argentina.

My beloved Blanco crabapple! We made a special trip to Medina to purchase this tree for my birthday last March. I thought I'd kill it, but it sprouted leaves again. Thanks to James, it's finally in the ground!

Ron and Linda also gave us a Texas buckeye that they started in 2011. James and I are hoping and praying to keep all our new tree additions alive and happy!

Blue curls

Last week, our native plant friends Linda and Ron brought us a Texas buckeye and blue curls (Phacelia congesta) seeds. Yesterday, we spread some around the yard and across the Meadow. I can't wait until next spring to see what pops up. I've already spotted more than 10 bluebonnet seedlings in the Meadow. I'm hoping the neighborhood deer don't nibble them away or tromp on them. Darn deer.

Indiangrass

 Yesterday, we hiked around our property northwest of town. James has done TONS of work there, like clearing juniper and creating trails. In many areas, the native grasses are returning. Like this beautiful stand of Indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans). I LOVE Indiangrass and also Lindheimer muhly, which is blooming in abundance, too.

I couldn't help but enjoy a few moments in a hammock that Matt, a good friend, hung between two trees. Right away, I spotted a spider web in the juniper branches over me. 

New addition (one of many)

In the last week or so, we've planted quite a few new plants (the ones in a previous post that we bought locally and at the native plant sale). This is a black dalea (Dalea frutescens) planted in the front yard and purchased from Blanco Gardens. We have one in the back yard, which I bought and planted for my birthday in March 2011. At first, I didn't think it'd make it. But it's thriving and bloomed away just recently. See?

Mandarin tree update

Look! We're gonna have a bonanza harvest of sweet mandarins soon. This is the Texas satsuma tree (Citrus unshiu 'Miho') that my son, Patrick, gave me for Mother's Day in 2004. It's put on fruit in 2006, 2008, 2010 and now this year. Cool, eh? But more of a miracle is that I'VE KEPT IT ALIVE ALL THESE YEARS! Last week, I gave it some Rose-Glo organic food. Poor thing. Besides some compost on top, that's all it's probably had to eat since 2004.

New-to-me native

A nice colony of gray golden-aster (Heterotheca canescens) is growing on our neighbor's end of The Meadow. This afternoon, I snitched some seeds and dropped them in a few bare areas in The Meadow. Later, our native-plant friends, Linda and Ron, came by and gifted us with a Texas buckeye. I walked them over to see this sunflower, and they told me the name. Which saved me a search through field books. Thanks, y'all! For everything!