Lemon tree very pretty
Well, here's hoping it will be.
By the end of the winter, the tropical plants that spend the cold dark days inside my bird room are looking pretty pathetic. The Boston ferns are pale and sickly, the angel's trumpets are lifeless and leafless, and my citrus trees -- one lemon, one lime -- are dropping leaves like Gypsy Rose Lee tossing pieces of her costume to the drooling audience. The leaves that are left look like they've wintered in a dust factory.
But, with the sun and water and a bit of Miracle Gro, they revive and flourish and bring joy to my tiny heart. The ferns are shooting up dark green curly fronds. The angel's trumpets are leafing out. The lime tree is covered with new growth and flower buds and has a couple of baby limes started already. And the poor lemon tree that I bought on sale at the end of last summer and treated like a poor relation all winter, never repotting it until I put it out last month, is going like gangbusters. New growth, a bazillion flower buds, baby lemons. It's still a bit straggly, like a gangly preteen, but I can see the potential. And, as I walk by, I can smell the roses and the citrus flowers. Heavenly.
Also, apparently the water hyacinths I float in my pond taste like... meat maybe? All I know is the damned dog keeps fishing the damned things out and either eating them or just shredding them and leaving them for me to find in distant corners of the yard. Stooopid dog! Once they start spreading, I won't care. By the end of the summer, I'll be throwing the things out. But I only have a few for starters and she can't have 'em!
I had a Northern Flicker in my yard the other day and #1Son got to see it before it flew off. They are ground feeders and eat ants and larvae so he's come to the right house. We have armies of ants this year. I also had a large woodpecker that same afternoon but I'm not sure what it was. Too big to be a Downy so I thought perhaps it was a female Red Belly but didn't see any red on her neck and my bird book says she should have had a bit of red on her neck. I'm hoping for a return visit from both birds.
Well, it's a gorgeous day, a bit hot in the sun but quite comfy in the shade. I'm eating leftovers from the cookout yesterday. Oooo! Pie!
*hugs flist*
By the end of the winter, the tropical plants that spend the cold dark days inside my bird room are looking pretty pathetic. The Boston ferns are pale and sickly, the angel's trumpets are lifeless and leafless, and my citrus trees -- one lemon, one lime -- are dropping leaves like Gypsy Rose Lee tossing pieces of her costume to the drooling audience. The leaves that are left look like they've wintered in a dust factory.
But, with the sun and water and a bit of Miracle Gro, they revive and flourish and bring joy to my tiny heart. The ferns are shooting up dark green curly fronds. The angel's trumpets are leafing out. The lime tree is covered with new growth and flower buds and has a couple of baby limes started already. And the poor lemon tree that I bought on sale at the end of last summer and treated like a poor relation all winter, never repotting it until I put it out last month, is going like gangbusters. New growth, a bazillion flower buds, baby lemons. It's still a bit straggly, like a gangly preteen, but I can see the potential. And, as I walk by, I can smell the roses and the citrus flowers. Heavenly.
Also, apparently the water hyacinths I float in my pond taste like... meat maybe? All I know is the damned dog keeps fishing the damned things out and either eating them or just shredding them and leaving them for me to find in distant corners of the yard. Stooopid dog! Once they start spreading, I won't care. By the end of the summer, I'll be throwing the things out. But I only have a few for starters and she can't have 'em!
I had a Northern Flicker in my yard the other day and #1Son got to see it before it flew off. They are ground feeders and eat ants and larvae so he's come to the right house. We have armies of ants this year. I also had a large woodpecker that same afternoon but I'm not sure what it was. Too big to be a Downy so I thought perhaps it was a female Red Belly but didn't see any red on her neck and my bird book says she should have had a bit of red on her neck. I'm hoping for a return visit from both birds.
Well, it's a gorgeous day, a bit hot in the sun but quite comfy in the shade. I'm eating leftovers from the cookout yesterday. Oooo! Pie!
*hugs flist*