Austin’s drought continues, but a late-night thunderstorm on Wednesday brought us a little more than a quarter-inch of rain. Better than nothing! The garden continues to spring into spring. On the down side, I hear that central Texas’s bluebonnet crop will be underwhelming this year, due to the drought. I haven’t seen any along the highways this year. For several years my garden had volunteers from a single plant that seeded out, but either drought or shade finally eliminated them one year.

The Hinkley’s columbines have begun to bloom. Their streamlined buds with “tails” remind me of rocket ships, but when the flowers open they become exploding yellow fireworks. Now that’s a plant that lends itself to imagery!

Here’s a “rocket ship.”

Hinkley’s columbine. The foliage looks like cilantro to me.

I had to get one more picture of the Texas mountain laurel, my favorite small tree in Austin. Evergreen with multiple dark, twisting trunks, this tree pulls its weight winter through summer, but spring is its best season. Its grape Kool-Aid scented blossoms droop like Christmas-tree ornaments throughout the dark-green foliage. Gorgeous!

More of that green-and-purple combination I favor. The Amethyst Flame irises are beginning to bloom. Behind them coral honeysuckle swaths a fence in color.

A close-up of the Amethyst Flame iris

Yet more purple and green—this time in the back garden. Spiderwort and golden groundsel, two central Texas natives, look pretty together in the shady garden. In summer they’ll die to the ground, and red Turk’s cap, purple heart, and red Texas betony will take their place.

A young Texas redbud in the back yard. As you can see, the flowers are not really red but dark pink. This sapling stood about 3 or 4 feet high when I planted it in the fall of 2001. Now it stands about 9 feet tall and is finally blooming nicely. If nothing else, gardening will teach you patience.

Blue Elf aloe

The back garden is lush again. The cedar elm in the center is chartreuse with new leaves.