sprung

I’ve been working on something VERY BIG for the last couple of days and it will come to full fruition on Sunday… so I shall tell you all about it next week.  Until then…

I took a bunch of pictures of our yard when it was just beginning to bloom and then again yesterday…  I’m going to share with you some of the progressions. The bunnies and quail are year-round residents.  And you may recall my drama-trauma baby quail story from last year at about this time… if not, please do check it out HERE! It’s quite the story.  To avoid the same sequence of events this year, here is what I did to the “quail pot” next to our pool.

I had to do it! Those darn quail came back to nest again and I had to chase them off so they would find another place to lay their eggs. I thought they would have learned their lesson. But no!  First I stuck a bunch of cardboard between the plant and the pot, but they still tried to get in there. So the bubble wrap went in and that seemed to do the trick. Thank goodness, I could not deal with that again!

OK, so my yard is blooming like crazy right now and I am in love with it. We didn’t have any hard freezes this past winter and everything is big and healthy, so I’m taking it all in while I can.

The “centerpiece” of the yard is this orchid tree. It’s pretty enough most of the year, but in the spring… it is a stunner!

It is, by far, the best thing ever!

The flowers are falling off now, I may have the rest of this week before they are gone, but it makes my day every time I look out my kitchen window and take in its beauty.

The two flowering plum trees are also in bloom.

The seven citrus trees bloomed in January, the only one with blossoms still hanging on is the Meyer lemon.

Otherwise, the rest of the trees now look like this…

With their little baby fruit popping out.

The pomegranate tree is in full bloom today.

And the fig tree has little figs galore.

All of the bushes and shrubs are in full color as well…

Lady Banks Rose

Orange Jubilee

Fire Bush

Yellow Bells

Lantana in a variety of colors

Bougainvillea

Bottle Brush

Bush Morning Glory

and the Canna Lily.

Of course, not only is my yard ablaze with color, but so are my neighbors’.  Specifically, the guy across the street who I “borrowed” prickly pear fruit from, back in August, to make  THIS.

Here is what the prickly pear flower looks like when it first begins to open… a pretty peach color.

Then when it fully opens, a gorgeous yellow.

There were dozens of bees buzzing around me while I was snapping these pictures.

But no fear, they were absolutely rolling in the flowers, drunk-like, soaking it all up. They were so cute, that I was actually laughing at them.

That’s all I have for you today… stay tuned for the BIG thing I’m working on… all the glorious details … in a couple of days.