Anne's vitex trees

Gorgeous!

This is the best time of year for this tree.

Close-up of these blooms.

Some day, I should plant at least one of these!

Camera comparisons

This is rather experimental. I've added the app Camera+ to my iPhone, and the first two photos were taken with that. 

 Day lilies ~

A day lily ~

The following two were taken with my digital camera, which is very fast and has high resolution. 

 Day lilies ~

A day lily ~

Flowers in spring!

The day lilies are blooming in my back yard. Every single year, I'm just amazed and captivated by these beauties!

Close-up view: They're just gorgeous!

And there will be more to come - see all the unopened flowers here?

And some gardenias, too! This plant is struggling, no matter what I do - but once in a while it blooms!

From the street behind my house

I took these photos on a walk down the street behind my house last week. I do love to see all the tall trees in my back yard, whether I'm in my back yard or beyond the back fence!

How pine trees recover from drought

I've been watering and hoping and hoping and watering ... trying to save this pine tree in my front yard. In March, I could see the new growth! And there are little pine cones all over its branches. The live oak at the right has been doing fine, but the pines have struggled. This one will make it, I think.

Close-up of the new growth at the tops of the branches.

From another angle ...

The two pine trees in the side yard are okay ... one is more okay than the other! But both have lots of new growth on them! Hooray!!

Close-up of new growth ...

Front yard 2012

My front yard this spring.

Even my very stressed-out pine tree is looking good!!

(More photos of it shortly.)

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!!

Latest pix

Here are the most recent, really good photos I have of Anne's kids:

Parker - in AF JR ROTC uniform

Kira, about to play her favorite sport!

And Austen, on a photography trip around Austin, TX, with friends.

These are to keep everyone up to date about how these three are doing ... just fine!!

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!