Birthday Blooms

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

My son and I have birthdays only 5 days apart in May, so we had fun celebrating together. I received several pretty plants from friends this year. Here is one favorite...



And a girlfriend was so thoughtful; she dropped this sweet bouquet by as well. I really love it!


A couple of friends sent this cool hydroponic appliance for my birthday (see photo below before I took it out of the box). I've never had anything like it before. It looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. I'll post my progress as the seeds sprout...



My son brought home a clay flower pot that he made in art class. I think it looks great with my new azalea.


As a treat I had lunch at Gumbo's in Round Rock, Texas. It's housed in a circa 1848 building that used to be an old stagecoach inn. The food is delicious! Their gardens outside are quite pleasant...

The stagecoach used to drive up to this limestone building over 150 years ago to the excited honking of geese according to the current owners. To see another beautiful photo of this old structure click here.

Finally, our friends in Scotland sent my son some lovely gifts for his birthday. Of course, our cat Mariah loved the box best of all. Behold, the shameless cat photo...

BTW, recently I watched the PBS documentary about Thomas Jefferson by Ken Burns. I was impressed with what Jefferson accomplished in his life. Someday I'd love to visit his home; especially his garden.

"Though an old man, I am but a young gardener" ~Thomas Jefferson

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

Not Just A Dream Garden

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.

Tired of waiting for my pool to be built before starting to plant my back garden; I have begun. I started by laying some pavers so the mower won't murder any more plants.


The plants are still babies, but they are doing well thus far. I plan to add some pots in the arched gothic hangers; though I haven't decided what kind of hanging plants to put in them yet.



The Carolina Wrens seem to approve of all the interesting activity. Here she's checking out the feeder though she doesn't eat the sunflower seeds.

The Mockingbirds seem to find more insects in my back garden since I don't use herbicide there. (Must admit to using it in the front lawn to keep the HOA off my back, but that's a different blog entry).

My coral honeysuckle and lipstick salvia are still growing well in the new bed...

I had to plant a new passionflower since the local Tom Cat obliterated my old vine with his spraying. Hopefully this new plant will grow faster than Tom can spray.

This urn below was from 3 houses ago and the green sedum on the left was a cutting my great-grandmother, Vinny. I was surprised to notice the finches eating the tops off the green sedum. They seem to really enjoy it.

Here are a few plants waiting to be popped into the ground this weekend if I'm feeling up to it...



If you look closely -- to the left of the bottle -- you'll see a green anole sunning himself above the young plants.


Here he is up close and personal...


Meanwhile in the front garden...MSS from Zanthan Gardens suggested that I should have shown off my lavender a bit more. So, here it is...




And here are the last of my Texas bluebonnets...




My winecups (Callirhoe involucrata), have finally come out to play...





And the red yucca is blooming this year...



And last but not least, I just had to share the photos below. Since I've been under-the-weather for several weeks my cat, Mariah, and I have had lazy competitions. As you can see she's taken it to an extreme with head-on-pillow inaction. I assure you she did not strain herself...



And yes, she is spoiled... :-)

One of my dreams is to have a screened-in lanai again so my two cats can enjoy visiting outside without getting eaten by the local wildlife, (a problem for cats in our area, unfortunately).

"A cat improves the garden wall in sunshine, and the hearth in foul weather." ~Judith Merkle Riley

Copyright © 2007-2008. Suburban Wildlife Garden. All Rights Reserved.