Saturday, December 01, 2007

Still Here...

Good gosh, has it really been over two months since I posted here? Apparently so.

The Year of Weird Weather continues in North Central Texas. Flowers are still in bloom, and leaves remain on many of the trees. Some areas had a few snowflakes on Thanksgiving, but that's been it for the cold weather. To borrow the McDonald's tagline: I'm lovin' it.

I did find a great (and organic) landscaper to do the "big stuff" mentioned in an earlier post. It's been wonderful to have a new holes to fill and, of course, I've been doing just that. A gorgeous purple smoke tree now stands where the ugly mean yuccas once were. My bearded iris -- all 60+ of them, dug up and divided from the original 14 I'd planted three short years ago -- are now back in the ground and rebounding nicely around the new smoke tree. The Hakonechloa macra Beni Kaze is/was in the spot previously occupied by a large holly bush, but sadly it has since been munched to the ground by rabbits and/or rats.

I was worried that ripping out so many dense shrubs would discourage my winter bird friends from returning, but I've seen nearly all of them so far. The ruby-crowned kinglet has been enjoying the suet, plus a pair of chickadees and a white-throated sparrow are all back from last year. Haven't seen the downy woodpecker couple yet, but I'm sure they're just as mystified as us humans about the balmy weather.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The leaves are just starting to turn color and fall, finally this week down here in Central Texas. They've hung on a long time this year. Nice and warm all last week but clear and near freezing tonight. I'm enjoying working in the garden getting all the beds planted up for spring.

mss @ Zanthan Gardens

Anonymous said...

hey tamara! just found your blog when i was surfing around on dave's garden website. i live in plano, tx. love your musings and am getting some great ideas also! keep up the great work!
marissa

Lynn said...

Sounds like you're having a great time! We only have a few months to get it all done here in Pennsylvania, but once I have some free time I'll be making some small hoop type covers for the 4' X 4' beds to extend the season for veggies.