30th - This evening at 9:30pm our local screech owl was sitting on the overhead wires singing away and around 6am this morning there was a great-horned owl singing in our garden just outside our bedroom window! 25th - I just spotted another little baby green Anole yesterday! He was hopping from leaf to leaf in my crossvine. Also, a Mississippi Kite was flying around the past few days, they nest not too far from here and a lot of the young are seen flying around at this time of year.
Ruby-throated hummingbirds are busy feeding from our flowers mostly and only occasionally come to the feeder. The other day one tried attacking a Great-tailed grackle and chased it out of the tree and right down the street! It then returned to its coral honeysuckle and Red Yucca flowers!
18th - The other purple martin baby has now fledged but still returns to the house as gets fed during the day!
Also, I saw the baby robin today. I was hoping that the two robins I've had here since the winter would nest and today I saw the adult feeding it on the telephone pole! They've been in our garden the whole time, picking through the shady flower beds and coming to the mister bath during the middle of the day. Several months back I found that the male had attacted a female to the area but expected them both to have left for more northern parts, but they were obviously happy with their wintering garden!
16th - One of the purple martin young have now fledged. In this particular cavity there were just two young, the other is still there. In the other compartments the babies are much younger as they were a second batch of eggs which had been laid after the first attempt was unsuccessful.
1st - Today was a HOT one! 96 degrees and a good day for the birds to come to the mister and the bird bath! Considering the heat however, most plants seem to be handling it well this year. All the new plants I planted last year got so much rain last year that hopefully they were able to get their roots in deep and hopefully help them survive better this year.
Day lily's are still flowering well, I must get some more of those! There are so many colors to choose from and each year they just get bigger and do better. After a few years you can divide them to provide new plants and which will allow them to flower better.

15th - Last night I heard and saw my first of the season Common Nighthawks flying over our house. Also - Mockingbirds and chickadees are busy feeding young here in the garden and all the birds are being very noisy with their squeaking babies!
- I planted a new passionvine yesterday, I don't have the name of it off hand but it is a red one with a white center, very pretty. Some of my favorite day lily's are now flowering and they're all doing so much better this year after I divided several of them last year.
- Finally, I had a very cute baby possum at our bird feeder and he would feed in the middle of the afternoon, which is unusual because they are nocturnal, but it is a baby one so it probably hasn't learned that yet! It would sit in the feeder eating all the bird sead, little seeds stuck on the end of its little pink nose! Adhorable!
10th - Today I had a new bird for the garden! In the front of our house I turned around to look at a bird my mother had pointed out and there in the middle of the road was a Roadrunner! I couldn't believe it! I ran up our neighbours drive and flew up onto the fence! This was number 113 for the yard.

Above - Greater Roadrunner, click to enlarge.

5th - Warmer weather with temps in the 80s and lows in the 60s is encouraging most plants to really thicken up now. Occasional rains do wonders for everything! I've planted several pots over the past few days with some bright colored annuals for instant color including Geraniums and Vincas.
Yesterday I noticed several Gulf Fritillary butterfly caterpillars on my passionvine; it is their host plant and I planted it for them specifically. It comes back every year, being in a very sheltered, sunny spot and dozens of small plants grow up around the same area from seed. The butterflies certainly have no shortage of their vine here! I planted several more this year in different spots, including up the post of our deck where it can climb to the top and spread over the lattice canopy. It will be nice to see lots of the bright orange butterflies coming to lay their eggs.

22nd - A Lincoln's Sparrow was working my flower beds this morning and baby squirrel's were going crazy, running back and forth, climbing over very flimsy, thin branches and almost falling off! They were comical to watch.
All shrubs and perennials are now starting to really thicken up. Clematis are all flowering now, and my climbing rose is full of buds and in another week will be completely covered in bright red blooms.
In my cactus garden I have a new cactus - the Claret Cup and it completes that bed. This plant grows throughout the Chisos Mtns of Big Bend, which is a place I love. I was saving a spot for this plant and it has just opened two of its bright scarlet flowers. The prickly pear cactus is a little later, normally flowering in May and producing yellow / orange flowers.

Claret Cup Cactus, Click to enlarge.

4th - Saw my first hummingbird of the season wizz by this morning. It had been feeding on my coral honeysuckle but I only caught sight of it as it flew off and was unable to tell if it was a Ruby throated or Black-chinned.
Did lots of gardening this week, moved several plants to better locations and tackled my cactus bed. It had so many weeds that had taken underneth my main prickly pear cactus that I could not pull them out without getting thorns all over me! So, I removed most of the cactus, leaving just one main, healthy clump, as well as several other succulent type plants in that bed. Then I pulled out all the weeds, put down landscaping material which allows water to pass through but prevents weeds. I put this right up close to the base of the plants then covered it all with pea gravel. It looks so much better and now I won't have to try to weed between the cactus!
Most of my tropicals I had potted up over the winter indoors have now been planted back outside. Next I will fill in some gaps with bright colored annuals untill the rest of the perennials fill in.
3rd - Purple martins are now bringing in nest material, mostly pine needles at this point.
1st - Looking out of the window this morning I saw a couple of yellow-rumped warblers, the one male being extremely colorful, almost in full breeding plumage.
- The Mockingbird in our garden has been trying to chase off the Robin from "his" yaupon holly tree.... I think the Robin won!

27th - Its been a busy month and I've not had a chance to update here much. Everything is now taking off in the garden, Spring is finally here! Leaves are bursting open on the trees and many perenials and vines are putting out their first flowers. Creeping flox is flowering and spreading, my "Little Jane" Magnolia is opening its last giant flowers, coral honeysuckle is full of coral blooms ready for any migrating hummer, as is the crossvine. Native perenials such as turks cap, Mexican petunia, Mexican mint marigold, Texas Star hibiscus are all setting out their new leaves. Coral berry bushes are getting their fresh lime green leaves, day lillies are thickening up well and all my potted tropicals I kept in the garage over winter are ready to be planted back into their old places.
- Every morning a Robin sits under our windows and sings away, coming to the bird bath for a drink. He's quite brave and will allow me to get within 8 feet or so before flying off. Carolina wrens are very busy collecting nest material and orange-crowned and yellow rumped warblers are still here, usually along with a Ruby Crowned Kinglet.
- We had a good deal of rain last week, the maximum amount we can tolerate without causing too much mess. Temps are now reaching mid 80s with lows around 50 or so. Soon I hope to be seeing migrants as they fly through. I hope to get at least one or two new yard birds this year, I'll have to wait and see what shows up. My purple martins have increased in numbers, now around 8 or so and last years young have yet to show up, which will increase the numbers even more. Hopefully I will have at least 8 pair again this season.
2nd - After a very warm few days with temps reaching 80, today is cloudy with a chance of rain. We desperately need some! Plants are really starting to come up now and my crab apple has flowers on it, although not that heavy this year.
Just a few more weeks and we'll be turning our clocks forward!

24th - A second adult, male martin has arived this morning, joining the adult pair that arrived yesterday afternoon.
23rd - PURPLE MARTINS are BACK! My first pair showed up late this afternoon, circling overhead, so I hurried outside and opened up the house for them. They flew right to #9! This pair always seem to be the first to arrive and although they go into #9 they normally end up in another cavity, but keep #9 as theirs as well! It never ceases to amaze me how they fly back and forth every year to Brazil, to return to the same cavity. They are amazing birds and it is so nice to have them "home"!
12th - This weekend was a busy one. We had some gorgeous weather and it was a great time to get outside and start some cleaning up of dead growth & removing all the leaves. I started by emptying my compost bin of its contents and spread it over some flower beds around the pool. This then left me with a pretty much empty bin to refill with all the leaves and other dead matter. I relocated several perenials in the front and back which were outgrowing their space. There are still others to move but at least the front has now been cleared of its leaves and spring bulbs are more visible. Next, I will start in the back and work my way around, cutting back all the old stems of perennials. Then I'll rake out all the leaves from the beds which they protected over the winter and will then mow over them to mulch them down, finally raking them back into the flowerbeds where they will finish decomposing and adding to the soil.
2nd - New Yard Bird! This afternoon I was outside and happened to look up into the pecan tree behind us when I noticed a group of birds perched in the top. They wern't the usual cedar waxwings and after running inside to find my binoculars my suspicion was confirmed - 7 Eastern Bluebirds! I knew they were in the area, yet have waited years to just see one fly over. Finally, I have been rewarded! This is #112 for the garden.
1st - A frost came in last night, covering everything with a pretty, wintery coat of white, although the sun is shining and will soon melt away the "crunchyness." Birds are flocking to the feeders and I saw a cheeky squirell, stuffing mouthfulls of burlap into his mouth that he has stripped from the base of one one my plants! I'm sure he thinks this is great nesting material. The other day he was checking out a piece of fleece I had placed over another tender plant which I am trying to overwinter in the ground. It was about a foot high and he jumped on top of it, sniffed it, and proceeded to jump around on it like a trampoline, jumping up a good 6-8 inches each time, as though he wasn't sure what was under his feet! It was very comical to watch, but he obviously thought the burlap was easier to collect instead of the bouncy fleece blanket!

27th - Finally the sun has come out and encourages me outside. There will be planty of cleaning up to do in the garden over the next month. Purple Martins should be arriving from Brazil to our area during the last few weeks of February and before then I'll make sure their housing is clean and ready to welcome them.
Hyacinths are now starting to poke their tops out of the soil, as are the tips of daffodils. Over the next few weeks I'll start cutting back some of the dead growth from shrubs and perennials, starting on one side of the garden and slowly working my way around. Dead leaves of Hellebores (Christmas Roses) can now be cut back to allow the new leaves to take their place and to allow the flowers to show up better.
1st - A beautiful, sunny but cold morning starts off our New Year! A good day for some puttering in the garden and watching the birds eat their hearts out at their favorite feeders!

30th - Beautiful weather today, mid 60s. Squirrels were running around chasing each other like crazy! Lots of birds are coming to the feeders including ruby crowned kinglets, orange crowned & pine warbler, chickadees, yellow-rumped warblers, cardinals, doves, downy woodpeckers and juncos.
Some other camelias are now blooming, others having finished by December. Bulbs such as narccissus have buds already and pansys are adding a nice splash of color in the tubs they're in. Most other perennials are now finished, but still have they're seed heads attached for the birds to feed off. I will leave these dead plants in place until around February, at which point I will remove all dead plant growth and clean up for Spring. This way the dead plant material still provides some food and shelter to birds and other critters during the coldest months.
Next year the garden will change again, most plants returning, but a garden is never finished and will always continue to change!
So, heres to the New Year and happy gardening to all!
21st - Had a Pine Warbler on my feeder today. I was hoping I'd see one this winter in my garden as I had my first Pine warbler last winter at the same feeders.
20th - Well the weather has now turned cooler as of a week ago, when we finally had our first frost, allbeit a mild one. This came a month later than the average frost date of around 15th November! The color change on the trees was also later, only now the golden leaves of my Pistache turning a dull brown as they carpet the ground.
It seems strange but for the past couple of months my house finches disapeared from the feeders. Just yesterday I found a female at the feeder again. They're here all year round but may have been enjoying natures natural food instead! Berries on hollies and nandinas stand out against the now dead perrenials and shrubs. Camelias are now blooming, my first one flowering about a month ago.
I am still in the process of transplanting a few shrubs here and there, into locations which are better for them. While trimming back some lantanas the other day I found an avacado tree about a foot tall, which I had forgotten I'd planted! Unfortunatly the frost nipped the new shoot out of its top but it may come back, and have since potted it up so I can bring indoors the next time the temps dip below freezing. My Papaya tree which I also have in a pot and which is around 7 feet tall is still doing well and just keeps on producing more and more flowers! It doesn't seem to be putting out any leaves in a hurry, but its flowers are pretty, shaped like little catherine wheels. Hopefully it will do well over the winter in our garage so I can place it back outside in the spring.

Flowers of the Papaya tree, wintering over in our garage.

1st - A warm, windy day starts off this month, with a little drizzle. We really need some rain right now as everything has dried out due to the mild, sunny few weeks we've had. Colors on the trees have also turned this week, finally, giving our Red oak its lovely orange, red shade.