Well its summer and the pond is stunning as usual.

This picture is like a zen meditation study. What a perfect moment in time. Nature, I have found, like all of life really, is always changing. We move on and so does life. I am so glad I caught this moment to freeze in time as it were, to enjoy the perfectness of it all.

The Cannas are in their majestic glory right now. When I took a look back there in the bog where they are growing I realized they are taking over the entire bog! Effectively pushing out my irises and reeds. Come fall, when they have finished their stunning display, I will be pulling some of those guys out of there to make room for my irises. I can’t believe how hardy they really are.

A quick look at the pond in its entirety:And there I found another zen moment.And look, we have little purple flower soldiers trying to line up:

A glance from the back of the pond and we see the house reflected in the water. The pond looks a little wild in this shot. Like you took a long walk through the jungle and took a peek out at the house.And what a lovely view through the new arbor.

And a quick glance back at the pond as we make our way to the veggie garden.

Moving right along, Oliver our resident squirrel contemplating our somewhat smaller pond.Oh, it seems he found something! I wonder what it was.This is where we usually find him.

And another friendly neighbor came for a visit that day. A gray fox scouting out peanuts from the bird feeders.It looks like he found something too.All kinds of crazy antics going on here!I see three birds in this shot. Do you?

Watch out! A tarantula made his way up to the water fountain that we keep running for the birds. I wonder what he was hoping to get up there. Not these cute guys I hope!Or these guys!Ah the adventures never stop here in the wildlife garden. But it all seems so relaxing viewing the garden from here on the patio.

What a strange and beautiful desert. I have always liked the high desert Southwest, but this place is just spectacular and is one of Nevada’s oldest state park. Characterized by red, pink and white sandstone rock that has been eroded into strange and wonderful shapes, these ancient petrified sand dunes contain petroglyphs, beautiful plants and many animals that hide away during the day, rarely to be seen by a fleeting visitor.

Many millions of years ago, this place used to be at the bottom of an ocean, and when the valley floor endured tectonic uplifts and volcanic action the water receded and it became a vast desert. Great sand dunes rose upward and through the action of compaction became sandstone frozen in time. Subsequent water flows containing iron oxide and many other minerals painted these rocks beautiful hues of red, pink and purple. And the fine, pink, soft sand grains at the bottom of the rocks, where erosion has finally deposited them, is a testament to what those sand dunes once felt like.

It only gets 4 inches of rain a year and temperatures in summer go well over 100 degrees, so the best time to visit is in spring and fall. Being a plant and flower nut myself, I was thrilled to have visited in spring. Every shrub, perennial and annual plant was alive with a spectacular show of blooms. It was hard to focus on anything at first. So many beautiful things to see in all directions!

Huge alien looking rock formations were everywhere.

And between these……

pathways were littered with stunning Southwestern tough-as-nails plants, in their spring blooming glory.

In this dry desert landscape plants found ways to survive and thrive.

Brittle brush was blooming everywhere! Amazingly it is a member of the sunflower family.Indigo bush looked so beautiful against the pink sands. Beautiful plants springing out of bare rock and sand whose flowers matched the color of the sand.

One of the most intriguing plants was the Bladder sage, which sports purple flowers that develop into balloon-like seeds.

Desert mallow, which grows in my own garden was thriving here too! So nice to see an old friend here. Not a picky plant, it will squeeze itself between tight rocks…… or just grow in loose, soft sand.

And last but certainly not least the Creosote bush.

It is an important, widely available desert plant providing food, shelter, nesting and roosting space for many desert dwellers including the desert tortoise.

It left me speechless, this place. A dry desert where you wonder how these plants are able to survive without any water it seems.

That is until you dig about an inch down into the sand and find the sand damp with lingering moisture. This place is full of beauty and secrets.

Holy cow it is warm outside! Early March and we’ve had 70’s and 80’s and almost every wildflower, shrub and tree is budding. Just look at this gorgeous Golden Leadball tree with his freshly sprouted new leaves and blooms. The almost lime green color shows you how fresh this foliage really is.And a happy “peekaboo!” from the cheerful Panises to lighten up your day!

Even Sadie had to take a sniff.

These I planted, but around the garden and fields things are popping on their own! Like this dandelion bloom. I like dandelions, do you? The bees favor them and their edible. Good for the liver they say. 🙂The reliably blooming Windflower (anemone berlandieri) is abloom all along my pathways and fields.

It is one of the first wildflowers to make it’s appearance in early March here and it’s obvious many critters appreciate it. Below there is a little spider feeding on an unfortunate Syrphid fly that was taking advantage of the early pollen. I love Syrphid flies since their nymphs will feed on many small pests such as aphids in the garden.

What I want to know is how did the spider knowthat there would be some scrumptious snack waiting to be eaten on this newly blossomed flower. Smart suckers indeed.

Bees are back on the ever reliable desert mallow. This plant amazes me every time it blooms. And it’s a tough drought and cold hardy plant. I have added two more to my garden for that early spring color. My bees will probably appreciate it too.

We’ve had very little rain until this morning and it has benefited Four Nerve daisies all around the yard. These are a wonderful native plant addition to the garden for their cheerful early flush of color.They reseed readily and their seedlings are easily removed to be transplanted in another area of my garden that needs a little more dazzle.

More anemones of varied shades.

If you click on the image below you will see that there is a little spider waving “Hello!” on the top left corner of the left flower. 🙂

The Blackhaw Viburnum is almost there! So many buds ready to bloom. Once it does it will be quite the attraction. And then later it will provide beautiful blue berries for the birds. Love this plant.

My lemons and blueberries are happily flowering too.  The bees absolutely love these guys. If it weren’t for them pollinating these trees I’d have to do it myself. Thank you bees! Blueberry blossoms.

My deer muhly grass has already somewhat recovered from it’s recent hair cut. It will definitely benefit from the abundant rains we had this morning.

Some newly planted snapdragons. I just LOVE the color of the grass this time of year before it turns brown in summer again.The Veggie garden looks great and….

the pond looks neat from a distance. I have lots and lots of cleaning time ahead of me though.

My Texas Betony is just about ready to burst. I wonder if it will be in time for the first hummingbirds of the season.

Some straggler autumn leaves on the Hackberry tree near the new blooms that are just about to open. Most people think Hackberries are junk trees, but I beg to differ. It is a phenomenal tree.Drought tolerant and cold hardy. The fruit is popular with winter birds, especially Cedar Waxwings, Mockingbirds and Robins, and it attracts many butterfly species including American snout, Comma, Hackberry, Mourning cloak, Tawny emperor and Question mark.

Not to be ignored of course is the trustee Texas Redbud tree. This year we didn’t have too cold a late freeze to damage these blooms thank goodness.

But nothing could prepare me for the stunning surprise of what I found during my a walk around my yard today. A Mexican plum in full bloom! Oh my goodness. The flies, bees and butterflies alike are so enamored with this tree that it was positively buzzing.

And the scent is just heavenly. While standing underneath it feels like a spiritual experience. Dappled sun rays kissing my skin, soft white petals gently falling to the damp earth around me, while so many beings are enjoying it’s splendor. It’s like standing underneath an abundant ray of hope and love.

See why I love spring? 😀

Winter is just not my favorite season. Definitely wasn’t in the northeast, but even here with our comparatively mild winters it doesn’t really inspire me. Things are very plain in the winter garden. But we can always count on the birds to keep us entertained. 🙂

I did the Feederwatch count by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology this year and it really helped me get more in depth knowledge of on my resident birds, and the surprise birds I had no idea were even here. Much activity finds itself around my feeders, in the native trees and shrubs and its great that they find my yard a good place to hang out.

A shy Tufted Titmouse contemplating a chilly dip in the water planter,

and a much bolder white-crowned sparrow inspecting the same planter, and then…..

just going for it!

Pine Siskins having an adorable splash in the bird bath.

We’ve have so many this year – over 50. But sadly soon they will leave us to migrate north to begin their breeding season, and their absence will be felt with 2 weeks of solemn quiet at the abandoned thistle feeders, until the lesser goldfinches come chirping back in. But right now its just happy chaos.

And while we’re waiting for things to warm up Sadie is taking long snoozes between watching the squirrels outside and eating of course. 🙂

I’ve kept my Mexican Flame vine in the house on cold days, only bringing it out when it’s above 40 and it has thanked me with some beautiful surprise blooms which a solitary Painted Lady butterfly gratefully appreciated. It was nice to see some color in the drab garden.It seems that spring is not that far away.

Temperatures are slowly decreasing, thank the gods. Although it is still very much  summer-like here. Highs in the low nineties and lows in the upper sixties. But it is still much cooler, and allows me to garden until much later in the day before the heat drives me to the air conditioning, or a shady snooze on the back patio. 🙂

The garden is soldiering on beautifully. Much to the delight of an unusually high population of bumblebees this year. I’m not complaining. That’s what the gardens are for.

I had a great crop of carrots this year. I just love the purple ones.Soon it will be time to seed out some more. I am waiting for some rainier weather. It has been painfully dry again and seeds are just not going to make a good showing if the soil is too dry.

Portulaca loving the simmering heat as usual.

I found a Lynx spider in my garage garden. They are fascinating spiders, and there’s a reason for their name – Lynx: They crawl about during the daytime hunting small insects, darting and leaping over low shrubs. They’re described as hunting like a cat, lying in wait or carefully stalking their prey, suddenly pouncing and capturing it.Female lynx spiders are very protective parents. She fastens her egg sac to the top of a plant and then sits on top of it or upside down from the sac. She guards her offspring very tenaciously, aggressively rushing at anything that threatens them, protecting her young till they can fend for themselves.

 Various birds are still using the birdbaths to cool down. If you want birds in your garden, put out a bird bath – especially something with gentle moving water – it’s truly as simple as that. Below we have a Goldfinch sharing a bath with a Cardinal, and in the background the melodious Mockingbird. They’ve just ramped up their singing in the front Youpon Holly which they are vigorously defending from other Mockingbirds. The Holly berries are just beginning to ripen, and birds are starting to fight over them. This noisy scrapping will continue until February when the berries will have a much sweeter taste and will be quickly devoured .It’s migration season. Lots of birds are making their way through Texas to get to the tropical south – to my delight. Right now we are inundated with beautiful Baltimore Orioles. They take advantage of any available water in this dry state. We don’t see them very often here, so this is such a special treat.The male is a beautiful orange, and the female is a more muted yellow. Here is a pair sharing a morning sip.Below are Eastern Bluebirds (they stay here for the year), sharing their usual watering hole with some Orioles. Eastern Bluebirds have just finished raising their brood for the year and we can usually see the young having an evening bath this time of year..

A little bit of scrapping going on between the species….

A lazy Sunday afternoon snooze on the back patio overlooking nature’s blessings.Such a relaxing view.And to finish it off for the evening a lovely blood super moon. We are truly blessed.