Curtis Botanical Magazine. the format

Curtis Botanical Magazine. the format is a bit awkward, but here are 1000+ wonderful illustrations from late 18th / early 19th century, put online by the national agricultural library (who knew we had one).

Spuria Iris. based on my

Spuria Iris. based on my very brief look at the mystery bloom, i'm leaning towards identifying it as something from the spuria group. bloom / leaf description is consistent with what i see growing; i haven't gone so far as to dig it up and see what's underground. the spuria iris society has info and pics.

whatever they are, i have two of them, but only one currently has flower buds. spurias do grow in texas, and the description of growing conditions - sunny, well-draining, hot, summer drought-tolerant - matches what my plants have.

Iris Pics. came across this

Iris Pics. came across this site while looking for iris pics to help me id the mystery bloomer. i'm not sure yet whether the answer is here, but he certainly has some great pictures and good information.

Figlets. we have figs on

Figlets. we have figs on the tree. they're about the size of the tip of my little finger. they're very hard to locate since they're exactly the same green as the leaves and look rather like leaf buds until you inspect more closely. the fig tree itself now has a dense canopy of leaves; the largest leaves are already the size of my outstretched hand.

Mystery Bloomer. the mystery bloomer

Mystery Bloomer. the mystery bloomer is still a mystery. the first flower didn't stay open long, but there are at least four more almost ready to open. what i do know is that it is a smallish flower - about 1" across - butter yellow, three or four petals. now i'm leaning towards the iris family.

hopefully i'll find some id hints on the american iris society site.

Rock Gardening. well, sort of.

Rock Gardening. well, sort of. the bed between our front yard / driveway and the neighbors was once upon a time covered with river stones. time and neglect has buried many of the stones by as much as 2" of dirt. so i spent yesterday carefully digging around the liriope and recovering stones. then i leveled out the bed a bit and replaced the stones - on top of the dirt now. looks much better.

Yellow Tulip. we have a

Yellow Tulip. we have a yellow tulip blooming in the middle of the front bed. darin is very proud of it.

Wizard Rose Coleus. these are

Wizard Rose Coleus. these are what i planted last weekend. they all seem to have taken the transplant well and are looking bright and perky.

Narcissus / Daffodil / Jonquil.

something is about to bloom in the bed under the sunroom window, but i'm not entirely sure what it is. judging from the leaves - long, thin, strappy - i think it's something from the narcissus family. i expect to know more when the flowers open and i know color / number / size of blooms.

i've always been especially fond of daffodils. i think because they were always the first thing to bloom where i grew up and they grow 'wild' in fields, marking where a homesite once was.

Egg Update.

at least, i'm assuming there are eggs since there has been a bird on the nest every time i've looked this week. supposing the eggs were laid about march 23 (the day before we first noticed they were setting), then they should be hatching around april 6.

i'm a little surprised that the doves chose this particular spot to nest. yes, it is very sheltered by the rambler (which i have tentatively identified as a climbing rose, the specific name of which escapes me just now). but it is directly between two driveways, and almost right above our gate which makes a great deal of noise each time we drive in or out.

UPDATE: the climber is almost certainly rosa banksiae 'lutea' - i'll try to remember to confirm with neighbor gardener. the secret of my clever investigative work? i saw a picture in this month's martha stewart living.