Blooms Birds and More!

There is so much going on right now at the nursery I barely have time to grab my camera and take any photos!  I have actually gotten a lot of decent photos on my phone though so thought I'd share.  Below is a combo of both things I captured on my phone and then on the camera as well. 

Hope you enjoy- it's been fun out here lately!!!  Love this time of year!

I love the cactus blooms- all are so unique and different- these are the blooms on a Cleistocactus- love em!!!  Doesn't hurt that they are pink... big fan of pink over here....

Speaking of pink.... Pam's Pink Honeysuckle is a favorite of mine.  I also love the Coral Honeysuckle but the pink, well, it's pink...

Plumbago- what's not to love???

Captured this guy in one of the greenhouses the other day.  I got a gazillion photos of him on different things zipping around me.  He could have cared less that I was there.

 

Now, I thought this was a Monarch- it is not!  It closely resembles one but see that black line on the

 bottom wings, this is how you can tell!  It is a Viceroy butterfly!

 The 'Blue Glow' Agave is one of my favorite- easy to see how it got it's name when the sun is shining on it.

My trough has filled out nicely!   I am pleased with it.  

 Got this guy when practicing with my new camera - got him in action!

The 'Charity' Mahonia is a love hate with me.... I love the way it looks. the berries are beautiful, the blooms are amazing and striking but don't get too close..... See those leaves?  Not fun to move or load up into carts.   Other than that, love this guy!!

I hope you have enjoyed the photos - I certainly enjoyed taking them.

April Showers….Have Brought Out the Flowers!

The rain here lately has been wonderful for the gardens and landscapes here in Austin.  Everything is blooming, birds are chirping and bees are buzzing.
I love this time of year. 

Here are some photos I have snapped lately.

Blooms everywhere!!!!

The Crossvine are blooming like crazy on the fence.

 The Dianthus are happy as can be.

 Love the orange on these spike blooms of the Dyckia.

 It's snowing!!!  Ok, it's not, but it looks like little snowflakes.

Such bizarre blooms on this cactus but I love it.  

And my little cactus guys are blooming again.

There are blooms all over the place- I have spent the majority of my free time as of late stalking the hummingbirds to which I have been most unsuccessful.  This is as close as I got- to be fair… I have had very limited time to watch for them and sit in wait, but I did manage to get a few shots- though not impressive I know but they are here!!!  So happy!!!

Hope everyone has a great day!!!!  

And happy early GBBD to all of you!!!

Chilly Morning!!!!

It is chilly out there today!!!  I felt it roll in yesterday, it was as if someone turned on the A/C, it just rolled in nice and cool and was rather refreshing.  This morning it was still chilly and it feels fantastic.  We were rumored to get some rain, though it went right around us as sadly is often the case.  We got a bunch of new items in the nursery this weekend that I am going to feature on today's post.  

The first photo is Yucca baccata and Agave a. medio-picta. They are both really unusual looking to me.  The Agave in particular I think is really extraordinary- I have not seen anything like that.  I was really excited to see that one come off the truck.

This is the Trichocereus c. hybrid.  

I can't wait to see what this bloom is going to look like. 

Speaking of blooms I can't wait to see open.... I have these on my watch.  This particular cactus has two blooms, the one in the photo above and this one below.  This is the Cleistocactus strausii.

They are both different colors- can't wait to see how they turn out.

This cactus looks like it is covered in a web of sorts, it is called the Peruvian Old Man Cactus.  It has big long thorns but not tons of them, just a few spread out but they don't look like anything you want to mess with.  I don't have a lot of experience with cactus but am learning a lot.

These I think look far better in person.  I could not get a good shot of them but I do like the way they gradually get larger.  I tried all different angles, but was not able to get what I think is a really good shot of them.  They are called Trichocereus terscheckii.

And last but not least is the Barrel Cactus- they are getting ready to bloom- this is a bloom I have seen before and am anticipating seeing again.