Spring evening at home
This has been the most beautiful week of spring, with soft, warm days, cool breezes, and wildflowers galore, including a patch of Texas bluebonnets (Lupinus texensis) in my gravel front walk.
Orange creamsicle flowers on gray globemallow (Sphaeralcea incana)
Pink cascade on the weeping ‘Traveller’ redbud (Cercis canadensis var. texensis ‘Traveller’)
Moonlight-yellow flower spikes of bulbine (Bulbine frutescens), which somehow came through that last hard freeze unscathed
Shades of orange with Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera) and ‘Bartley Schwarz’ abutilon along with a butternut-hued Chinese pot and and red-orange Circle Pot from Potted planted with orange-tinged sedum.
Hummingbird’s-eye view
Sunset washed the sky with its own tangerine glow, as a perfect spring day came to a close.
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Digging Deeper
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All material © 2024 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
Wow, that weeping redbud is gorgeous!! I love redbud trees, but I don’t have one on my property….yet. Someday!
The best time to plant a tree is yesterday, they say. I say plant a redbud this fall and enjoy it for years to come.
I LOVE the “shades of orange” tableau, and am very jealous of your apricot globe mallow (mine went to the Great Compost Heap in the Sky two years ago)….but you obviously photoshopped these gorgeous pics, because WHERE are the mountainous heaps of oak leaves?!
Oh yes! I’ve been raking up mountainous heaps of live oak leaves for two weeks straight. The latest batch of 10 bins got picked up this morning. There are still another 4 or 5 bins’ worth that need raking up, but I’ve moved on to awaiting the big catkin drop. Any day now!
Beautiful! How I envy you those lupine. Seeing your bulbine has me thinking I need to divide mine to restore the meadow-like quality yours have.
Wouldn’t it be nice if plants stayed in that perfect middle ground of being full enough but not too full?
Looks lovely and I particularly like those pots with the orange plants.
Thanks, Linda.
Your photos are magnificent! I’m envious of your Sphaeralcea incana. Mine hasn’t even hinted at blooming yet.
Thanks, Peter. I’m sure your globemallow will be blooming soon – although if it’s smart it’ll wait for the coming cold front to pass.
It looks beautiful! I love the globe mallow, and the Mexican honeysuckle vignette really shows off your design talents. That’s a pinterest shot for sure!
Thank you, Maggie!
It all looks so toasty and springlike… but I couldn’t help noticing at the Dell golf event that everyone was bundled up — some players even wearing knit caps! A temporary dip, that for gardeners is just prolonging blooms that in a “normal” year might whirl by, quickly succumbing to the Death Star.
We had a little cold snap over the weekend. I’m happy for that taste of early spring again. I’m never ready for temps in the upper 80s and 90s to arrive.
It is indeed a gorgeous spring evening at your house, especially that orange corner. Love it!
Thanks, Robin!
Your garden is glorious! Such a great time of year to enjoy the outdoors in Austin. I notice that you have garden string lights up in your trees. Do you have trouble with squirrels chewing the cords? We are about to give up with our lights. Any tricks or advice to keep the squirrels away?
Hi Leigh. We have not experienced any squirrel gnawing on the light strings (yet!), perhaps because they have been preoccupied with gnawing the owl box and the occasional pillow. The strings are commercial grade (heavy duty) and attached to a braided support wire, so maybe that has helped deter them. May I suggest you install an owl box to distract them? *only partly kidding*
Hello! We do have an owl box, but so far they are using it only as an Airbnb. We lost 4-5 strands of lights over the last couple of years and are about to give up. The squirrels chew the lights off where they connect to the main wire. I do have a bird feeder in close proximity – so I’m going to move that and see if it helps. If you know any owls looking for a nice fly-up….