I worked hard over the last 3 days getting my back garden mulched, composted and fertilized. And I’m still not done! Here is a before and after picture. The before is from a year ago when it still was in planning phase and we’d had a dry winter.

Backyard Garden - After - March 2012.

Backyard Garden - planning phase March 2011

Looking back I am amazed at how many obstacles I had to deal with building this garden: Drought, grubs, and crappy soil (my own fault – I won’t ever skimp on soil again!). I remember being worried about the stone wall being so white. Hah! No issue there – the stone naturally got browner. The picture from a year ago shows how dry everything was. We’ve been having to mow the grass every week for the last 3 weeks! Everything is beautifully green. Thank you Rain!!

This early warm weather has all the plants really busting out!

Even the snails are out and about…..

Texas Betony making a wonderful spring display.

And Blackfoot Daisy didn’t really get hurt by the short bouts of frost at all.

A newly planted Four Nerve Daisy already putting on a little show.

When I moved here a year and a half ago I had no idea that I had a Mexican Plum tree (Prunus mexicana) on my land. Until today that is, when I went for a walk to the Eastern Bluebird nest box to check up on it and found this lovely beauty in all it’s glory.

The fragrance was overpowering. What a glorious find!

There was a Monarch Butterfly fluttering around, but sadly it did not want to stay still for me to catch a good picture of it.

The wildflowers (Verbena) were out and about as well. A whole field of color.

And as I was making my way back to take a peek in the Bluebird nest box I find a lovely surprise…Mommy Bluebird had laid 2 lovely blue little eggs in the new nest. I wish them all the best in raising their new brood. I have seen both mom and dad fiercely defending their nest from House sparrows. So far they are doing a great job. I have registered this nest online with the nestwatch.org database run by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I sure hope they do well.

It’s been a tough, long process but our wonderful neighbor Nick Page came over to help us out. He’s a mason and works with stone and bricks for a living and has his own company – Nicks Bricks Masonry Inc. He also showed Dick how to lay the stone and it’s just looking beautiful! In return Dick will be building his website for him. Talk about a great barter system!

Back patio - in process

Back patio - before...

My project is also slowly evolving in the front yard…..

Our Master Naturalist course took us to McKinney Falls State Park near Austin. Its a beautiful place with waterfalls and open fields. Found this lichen on a dead tree trunk. It’s funny that even when something is dead it can still be beautiful.

We found the season’s first Bluebonnets in an open field. I know that in about 2 weeks, this field will be covered in blue! I will have to make a return trip to check it out. The winter rains have been generous and I believe it will yield an abundant wildflower season.

The Texas Mountain Laurel was making a wonderful display: