Springtime and bluebonnets!

This was my view out my car window when I was stopped at a traffic light the other day ... and it's not the only one. I get these little treats just about everywhere I drive around here, this time of year!

Odd weather for TX!!

We're on a roller-coaster of sorts ... warm and muggy and then cold and windy and dry ... sometimes rain in between! Very strange!!

 Sideways rain today!

LOTS of rain for about 45 minutes!!

More bluebonnet photos!

More ... in no particular order ...

And on my walk back to my car, I found some weedy looking plants that have cute little flowers, too!

Bluebonnets in Creekside Park

Creekside Park is a residential area in The Woodlands where there's a large open section with bluebonnets in it. I think they were cultivated, but now the area is open for people to enjoy ... have picnics, take photos, etc!!

And a couple of panoramas, just to get the feeling of the expanse of this!

Bluebonnets along the way

I think it's about a week or so early for the best bluebonnet-viewing, but I couldn't resist taking these photos yesterday on my drive home from Austin. I may go back to the Chappell Hill area (see the last 3 photos here) in a couple of weeks and take more. It's all so gorgeous.

Along the highway, west of Giddings, TX.

Also along the highway, between Giddings and Brenham, TX

In Chappell Hill - how would you like to have your whole front yard knee-deep in bluebonnets? 

Beautiful!

A bit north of Chappell Hill - a field of bluebonnets along FM 1155.

Magnificent drive!!

So GREEN!

Driving home from Austin yesterday, I was struck by how green everything is -- the trees, the medians, the roadsides, the hills ... quite a difference from when I drove to Austin and back last August and October -- after months and MONTHS of drought. This is such a joy!!

Even as I got into the flatter parts of this drive, past Brenham and heading toward Tomball and Spring, it was still green, green, green as far as I could see. How marvelous!

Early spring view out my front window

 All those new green leaves!

 Crape myrtle just outside the window, live oak farther out in the yard.

A neighbor's tree in full bloom at the end of the cul-de-sac.

Beautiful spring in the neighborhood!

I took all these while driving home one day recently. It was so spectacular, all the way north on Northcrest! I couldn't help it! And yes ~ it took longer than usual to get home that day!!

This is a close-up of the tree above. I don't know what all these trees are called, but they're gorgeous!

Looking north on Northcrest ...

Wow! Someone made a good choice many years ago - this tree is beautiful every single year!

Beautiful front yard

Spring - I never tire of it!!

I took these photos about 2 weeks ago, and I'll take more soon. This stage of each spring is just fascinating to me, though - the very beginning of everything becoming new again! Even though we had a very mild winter, these are still wonderful to see.

This is the oak that doesn't lose its leaves in fall. Its leaves all turn a pretty reddish-brown and then brown, and then they hang on the tree all winter! The first year I lived here, I thought I had killed it! But this is what it looks like when the new leaves begin to show - pushing out the old brown ones. It'll become very thick and green, of course. It's a fantastic tree.

Here's where all that yellow pollen (dust) comes from - and with so many of these pines all over the area, in the forests and in yards, the yellow dust gets everywhere!

This gap, just to the left of the sego palm there, is where I lost a tree last year. No matter what I did, no matter how much extra water I gave it - I lost it. When the guys were taking it down, I could see that it didn't stand a chance. The inside was hollow and rotted - no amount of water could have saved it.

And here's that oak tree again, the same tree as in the 2nd photo above. Four days later, and what a difference! Those leaves come in fast when they decide to come in!!

Spring must be on its way!

Yesterday morning, my yard was filled with birds of various sizes and types: small ones flitting all over the place, chasing each other, it seemed; a couple of mockingbirds; a dove; and a woodpecker high up on one of the elms.

He stayed a long time, so I finally decided to try for a video ... and here it is!

And yes, you should be able to tell that the ash and elm trees have begun to put out this year's leaves. I think they're confused, but then, we really didn't have much of a winter around here!

Spring ... again!

All the same kinds of things are happening, of course, as last year. ~~> NEW LEAVES

It's all wondrous to me, after living in the desert for well over 30 years, to watch this happen each year. I took the first photo below just after my gardener cut the agapanthus almost down to the ground. All its leaves had turned to mush during all the freezes we had this winter.

Feb 26, 2011 - just cut back

Today - new growth is good and healthy!

All the day lilies (the little plants under the trees) had disappeared during the freezes.

They've started their regrowth, too.

On my walk ...

... this is how I know winter is over!!