Stylish Blogger Award

I have been awarded the Stylish Blogger Award by...

Hanni of Sweet Bean Gardening 
Deb of Deb's Garden and
Frances of Island Threads 

I really enjoy their blogs, and I hope you will stop by and visit them.

I have been asked to:

1. Post a link back to the person(s) who gave me the award
2. Share 7 random things about myself
3. Award 15 recently discovered bloggers and drop them a note to tell them about it  

Okay.  Here goes (by the numbers)...

1) I don't like spending 1 minute in a mall, but I could spend 24 hours in a garden center :-)

2) I was a free-lance court reporter for 17 years.  In 2003 I traded in transcripts for trowels and left lawyers for landscapes -- and never looked back!

3) I have a 2 1/2-inch scar on my forearm from recent radial tunnel surgery.  Maybe I'm spending a little too much time with those trowels and landscapes?

4) I have 2 grandsons (and, yes, I'm too young to have grandchildren)

5) I drive a 2007 Sport Trac. I love my little truck :-)

6) I just had 20 shrubs ripped out of my backyard.   Last year after pruning those shrubs, I wrote in my gardening journal,"They are getting ripped out!  I am done with pruning those things."  Yep, I'm done.

7) Psalm 16 is my favorite Psalm.  "Apart from the Lord I have no good thing."   Pretty much sums it up for me :-)

I would like to recognize these blogs I've recently discovered (by the letter)...

S - Secrets of a Seed Scatterer
T - Thanks for Today
Y - Yardflower
L - Life in Robin's Nest
I -  It's Not Work, It's Gardening
S - Southern Post
H - Hoe and Shovel
B - Blackgates Garden World
L - Ledge and Gardens
O - Open Sesame Garden
G - Gardening Tips and Pics
G - Garden Cuizine
E - EvoOrganics
R - Root of it All
S - Sunny Side Up

We garden bloggers are an interesting bunch!  I hope you take a minute to discover some new blogs, too.

Happy Blogging! 
Toni :-)

Diggin' in the Dirt Newsletter

I write a quarterly newsletter for my clients 

with seasonal tips and information.   

If you are in Zone 7/8, you might find it helpful. 

You can check it out by clicking here

Happy Spring!

Toni :-)

What's Bloomin' - February 2011

The snow is gone and the temperatures are rising, 

but blooms in the garden are still a few weeks away.   

Patiently awaiting spring.

It is worth the wait.

Something else I've been patiently awaiting -- 

the opening of my amaryllis bloom.  

It was worth the wait!

Happy Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day!

And one other thing I've been patiently awaiting...

surgery on my gimpy right arm.

Today is the day.

"I have set the Lord always before me.

Because He is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken."

Psalm 16:8

I know it, too, will be...worth the wait!

Toni :-)

A Super Bowl Week of Winter

Like all the big game hype, the snow is quickly melting away as the temperatures got back into the 50s over Super Bowl weekend, but I wanted to share just a few more shots of my snowy winter garden....before it's all gone.

Welcome

This garden figurine looks as though she's tucked under a white blanket  ....
  

or maybe a young lady taking a curtsy in a white dress?

 

The garden fairy wonders how this pile of snow landed in her lap and right on top of her book!

This worker ant wonders if he will get another snow day... 

or if he can finally go back to work

Snow-capped mushrooms with icicle earrings

And snow-capped seed heads of Ligularia

I love the snow-scalloped edges of the pond

The waterfall continues to flow even in the freezing temps

Ornamental grasses seem even more graceful

And the DD Blanchard Magnolia seems all the more majestic...

 

...when dusted with snow

 

 The "bones" of the boulder curve I installed last year are starting to show

as the snow beings to melt.

Weeping Yaupon

Winter berries are a pop of color against the snow

Possumhaw Holly

Nandina domestica

Snow gauge?

 Just how many inches did we get?

A dusting of snow ...

And then a few inches more

As the Super Bowl moves out, another "strong arctic cold front" is forecast to move through North Texas on Wednesday, with "wintry precipitation likely." 

Maybe the winning (yea!) Packer fans ought to stick around awhile longer -- 

they might just feel right at home :-) 

Brrrrr!

Toni :-)

Evening Shadows

What do you get when you mix the evening light 
with a snow covered garden?  

Beautiful shadows....

With the setting of the sun, the shadows faded away.

And with the rising of the sun (and temps), 

the snow is fading away, too.

Spring is next on the horizon.

* * *

 Click this link to visit Shadow Shot Sunday

Waiting for spring...

Toni :-)

Makin' Tracks

For this month's 
First Friday Creature Feature, 
I haven't actually seen any creatures, but...

It looks like someone's been creepin' 'round my back stairs

A possum maybe?  

We have one living under our deck.

And she's not alone...

Someone's been hoppin' down the bunny trail.

There's a party goin' on down there!

 Speaking of bunnies, hop on over (groan) to Along Life's Highway for my submission in the Yard Art Game -- there's bunnies everywhere!  I want it to be known that I only submitted the first picture.  The rest of the pictures are not for the faint of heart -- you have been warned!

And then I found this strange looking butterfly track.

 

Obviously my husband is going stir crazy being cooped up in the house for four days, so he's resorted to making garden insects in the snow!    

I was actually quite impressed :-)

I hope spring is makin' tracks to get here.   I'm about to have my fill of snow, although it does make for some pretty pictures!

I'll share some in the coming days.

Stay tuned...

Toni :-)

What a Difference a Day Makes

On the last day of January I took this picture of my Graptopetalum

 

And on the 1st day of February I took this picture

During the last week of January it was 75 degrees.   

As I type this post this first week in February, 

it is 19 degrees.  

Graptopetalum (also called Ghost Plant) is a plant genus of the family Crassulaceae.  There are around 12 species in this genus. They are perennial succulent plants native to Mexico and the Southwestern United States, similar to Echeverias and Sedums. 

Graptopetalums are generally easy to propagate.  Leaves fall off whenever plants are handled.  Just place a leaf on top of moist soil, and in about 4 weeks a new plant will sprout from the leaf.

Like my plant, if you're buried in snow and freezing temps...

 take care and stay warm!

Until next time....

Toni :-)