Hens and Chicks

Some hens and chicks, Sempervivums, poking through the leaves. These came from a friend's yard a few years ago. They do best when totally neglected.

Fairy Flower

A fairy flower coming to life in a front yard urn planter. I've had this in the planter for a couple of years. It grows delicate long stems with pink-purple flowers all season.

Rock Cress

I took a little tour of my yard in between raindrops to see what was coming alive. I believe this is rock cress. It will be covered with these little purple flowers in a few weeks, and then, it becomes less interesting as the green leaves fade to a dull grayish brown.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea packs a powerful color punch. This one is in my parents' yard in Scottsdale. Some nurseries around Boise sell bougainvilleas as "patio plants" - meaning, you can't leave them out in the winter or they will die. I've been tempted, but I don't have that much indoor space for plants, and I already overwinter geraniums each year. I saw a tiny purple flower peeking out of the foundation plantings yesterday. I'll share the early spring blossom tomorrow.

Scottsdale Yard Tour

While my yard and garden is still waking up, I'm going to share some shots of my parents' yard at their home in Scottsdale, Arizona - we visited them last week. The yard was just re-done, and this is one of the cacti in the front.

Mourning Dove Saying Good Morning

A mourning dove perched for the morning. They seem like grey-colored birds from a distance, but they have variations in color, as seen on this one.

Winter Pansies for Sale

Winter pansies for sale at the local grocery store. They sell these in the fall, too, since they survive the winter and bloom in the cold part of spring.

Petunia Seedlings

I started petunias from seed a while back, and here are the seedlings. I'll re-pot them when they get a little bigger, and I hope they'll be close to blooming by the time they can go into baskets and containers outside - after May 10th.

Daffodils

Look past the debris of dead peony leaves and the encrusted copper bowl...and, daffodils are coming to life.

The Day Started Out So Sunny

My husband took this photo Sunday morning because it was so bright and sunny and nice outside. Notice the neighbor cat Damon lounging on an ottoman near the princess cabana. Later, we got a big snowstorm! You can get a glimpse of that at the Monday posting at Boise Daily Photo (www.boisedailyphoto.com).

March Gardening

Normally, I've got a couple of garden beds cleaned up and snow peas planted by this time in March. But I'm not battling snow and hail to do it. Fingers crossed for a prolonged patch of sunshine this weekend.

Thunderstorms and Puddles

Thunderstorms, rain and hail have been ruling the days. We need the rain. I saw the snow pack assessment and it was bad news: the mountain snow melted early and new snow has been scarce. The ramifications for my yard is that the irrigation season could be cut short. We water our yard with irrigation water that farmers also use - our subdivision has water rights to access that supply. During dry years, the watering season is shorter.