You Can't Go Home Again

Things do change over time, don't they?  The Zilker Garden Festival was a bit of a disappointment.  Kind of a huge one, actually.  I remember an enormous wonderland of plants, garden lectures, product demos, local experts to chat with - with some food and music and arts-n-crafts thrown in for spice.  Yesterday at the festival, there were maybe six nursery booths, the rest was normal festival-vendor fare: clothing, jewelry, random housewares and pottery...pretty much anything but garden-related things.  Disappointed but undaunted, I set off (with the friends I had dragged along with me, promising the wall-to-wall plant-shopping extravaganza I remembered) into the botanical gardens, hoping for a serene stroll to remedy the disappointment and frustration I was feeling, only to find that most of it had been taken over by the childrens' activities areas.  So much for that, then.  Oh, well. 

It'll be a couple more weeks until the botanical gardens are in full bloom, but I did find these cute little guys bopping around happily in the breeze:

Anemone coronaria

another anemone about to open

this one blew out of the frame as I took this picture...
revealing a forgotten shovel.  Whoops!

A big double daffodil

And a single one, with an anemone behind it
making it look like a two-colored flower

All the little violets! They're so cute.

This is not a flower.  But it's still pretty cool. 
It was as big as my hand!

Meanwhile, I still have a LOT to do in the garden.  The festival kind of derailed some plans I had for the weekend, but I'll catch up this week.  If I can get my butt in gear the next few days (I'm extremely, unbelievably tired today for some reason) I should have an actual update on how it's going for you.  Here's hoping.

Dog tax:
Shelly resting her face against my foot.  Silly old bear.

Critters & Columbines

So, the bare-root Columbines I planted in the Earthbox last month are doing well:

February 22, 2017

March 19

glamour shot

I'm looking at revamping my whole patio space in the backyard soon.  I loved having an herb and flower border surrounding my patio area at the old house, and I was thinking about doing something similar in the new house.  These columbines are going to anchor the "doorways" that will lead through the border into the yard, I think.



Here's the patio itself...well, most of it.  It makes a great "before" shot, doesn't it?  Full of leaves and those hateful, crunchy, little Live Oak flowers that carry that infuriating yellow pollen that sticks to everything this time of year.  Also shown:  a bunch of junk I hadn't cleaned off before taking this pic, muddy yard shoes, and a wee House Finch:

 

Don't see the bird?  Here:

Hee.

In the front yard, all of the Caladiums I planted in February have been removed by the @#*!! squirrels:

LEAVES.  STAAAAHP.

Did you miss it?  Look again:

 

Little bastards.


Also, meet Frances: 

Frances is a Funnel Web spider (Agelenidae) who lives on my front porch and prevents people  ringing the doorbell.  Frances is harmless - not related to the Australian Funnel Web spiders you hear about that are trying to kill you.  (I think maybe everything in Australia is trying to kill you).  She likes to collect dead bugs.  She normally cleans out her web every few days, but she's really let it go lately.  Bad Frances.


It's going to be a big weekend in the backyard.  I'm hoping by Sunday evening the whole thing will have been completely transformed.  Also, The Zilker Garden Festival is this weekend.  I haven't been in a few years, and I'm so excited about it! 

More soon.