Everything is Budding Out!

Spring is here for sure!  This morning I was taking my morning walk to the greenhouse and around the property with puppies in tow and I had to run back to the house to get my camera (I can't believe I forgot it in the first place).  Everywhere I looked, something was blooming.  Fall is my favorite time of the year, but I do love the spring.  This has been an exceptionally cold and long winter (for us in South Texas anyway) and I, among many, am very glad for the recent warm weather and signs of spring.

And it's not just we humans who are loving the sunshine.  All the flora in the hills are welcoming spring's warm rays. Although the temperature did drop to 27F last night!  But it made for some beautiful, frosty wildflowers this morning :)  and it's supposed to reach 72 degrees today...God I love Texas!

(This photo looks really cool if you click and enlarge it)

I discovered a Texas Paintbrush blooming in the front part of the yard.  It's also known as Indian Paintbrush or botanically as Castilleja indivisa, and it is a beautiful wildflower.

 And one of my bluebonnets is almost ready to bloom!

My Texas cedar elms, Ulmus Crassifolia, are budding out beautifully.  I have two trees and each is budding out in their own sweet way...one a few days ahead of the other.

The Texas red bud tree, Cercis Canadensis var. Texensis, in the front yard is bursting with color.

And look at the beautiful buds on my tomato and pepper plants.  I may have fruit to pick before I even put these babies in the ground!

My beautiful Texas Everbearing Fig Tree is budding out too.  I had to put a cage around it.  I discovered tell-tale signs that the axis deer are jumping the fence at night and getting onto the property.  The last thing I want is those little deer-people eating my fig tree!  I feed them plenty of kitchen scraps that they don't need to be eating my fig tree.

And the Agarita bushes, Mahonia trifoliolata, all over the property are budding.  I love their beautiful yellow flowers.

My roses are just beginning to leaf out after their Valentine's Day haircut :)

In walking around the property, I found a few more wildflowers beginning to bloom.  I'm not sure what these are (remember...I need a new Texas wildflower book), but they sure are pretty.

And look at this beauty who was around visiting me all morning.  She sure loved my tomato and geranium blooms.

Even my cattelya orchid is blooming!  I never thought that baby would bloom again.  It languished in the greenhouse for about a month before I decided to bring it back in the house.  I set it on the Southeast side of the fireplace and it must be happy, because it's throwing off two new blooms!

So as you can see, things are beginning to bloom in my Texas hill country garden and I couldn't be happier!