It’s been such a gorgeous year for spring flowers. Out in Elgin, the wildflower seeds that we planted (leftover from our wedding gift bags) have sprung up all over the place. The bluebonnets were spectacular. All the rain has been such a blessing – our pond is fuller than it’s ever been.

We got some new surprises, like this poppy, amidst the sea of blue.

This  looks like a palafox but I’m not sure.

Some kind of red phylox?

This evening we walked down Klaus Lane, one of the most pleasant things to do. We’ve got miniature horses, chickens, sheep, and cows on our road, but today the flowers stole the show.

I love finding treasures hidden in the tall grasses, like these little white flowers below.

Indian Paint Brush growing near the fence by the organic farm across the street.

We found this purple verbena down the road.

 
Wild mustard is growing like crazy!

Showy Evening Primrose

I love the wildness of wildflowers, that they grow randomly as they see fit. I love finding new flowers every year. And I love that they are so evocative of a time and place… Texas spring is special.

If you have any IDs on the flowers that are not identified above, please let me know!

The girls are really skittish when it comes to photos, but I got a few shots of them in their new home. That’s Black Beauty, Peeper, and BW below (from left to right). They love snacking on the broccoli and ornamental kale plants, which I am slowly pulling out of the garden to make way for new spring vegetables.

Shirel (below, named after one of my students who requested her own chicken) is the most inquisitive. She constantly comes up to me when I bring snacks into the barn, and will let me pet her. She’s so sweet. Her beak is slightly clipped, which is something that usually only happens on factory farms. She was one of my mom’s rescue chickens.

If you are thinking about chickens… DO IT! They are so low maintenance and the fresh eggs are superb. Hours of entertainment, guaranteed, even if you don’t live in the middle of the country.

 
I noticed that bees LOVE the broccoli flowers that formed if I didn’t harvest the florets quickly enough. Fun fact – we actually eat the immature broccoli flower buds and their stalks. A broccoli plant will produce one big head – like those you see at the grocery store – and lots of small side florets. These are the ones I couldn’t get to fast enough, and once the flowering signal is sent, it happens in a matter of days. I also managed to let my mustard greens and arugula get a little out of control…  I’m harvesting the seeds from these plants so the flowering bit is kind of necessary.

 
Then, I had this afternoon off from work, and I came home to find that some butterflies liked the flowers as well!

A lot of butterflies, in fact. And they weren’t skittish. I was able to get some pretty awesome shots:

 
I love having flowers in the garden… maybe I should plant some next time?

I had a flash of inspiration a few months ago, but I only put it into action yesterday. We have a pile of leftover limestone rocks, and I broke some of these up to make a circle around each agave plant. Then I filled the inside with leftover gravel from another project.

Viola! Our entrance just got official. It was easy, and best of all, it was a project that was completely done with leftover building materials.

Most of our apple and peach trees are blooming, and others are opening delicate, fuzzy leaves.

I pruned our trees at the beginning of January, and I’m always a little nervous that I “took a bit too much off the top.” So seeing the flower buds is such a relief. These trees are back for another year!

This spring has been blessedly wet, and even though the trees are on a drip irrigation system, the rainwater gives them something that our water doesn’t, and they flourish.

Even though the official first day of spring isn’t until March 20th (our anniversary), the signs of spring are already here.