Update: Signs of Spring II

The brown iris wants equal time. It was only a bud yesterday, but blooming today.

I always think of this iris as a bit "cocky."

It is really stunning. I have no idea where it came from, but it was likely stolen from a neighboring house where they were bulldozing a long established iris bed. There was no point in all those plants going to the landfill. But I may be too old for "midnight raids with a sharpshooter."

A coreopsis * started to bloom after successful overwintering in the side yard.

This little guy is just barely peeking over the lip of the pot. I don't think I realized I was buying a miniature variety.

And the pecans? Well, the pecans know.** When they bud you can be sure any risk of freeze is over. I didn't see the buds yesterday. It was overcast and then dark this morning - until the end of the walk. And then we saw them - little bits of green at the ends of the fingertips of the pecans. Green where some of the splayed black pecan coats still hang, having dropped their fruit and survived the cold, wet, and windy winter.

And there we go...the message from the pecan tree.

The cardinals have been a delight through the winter and into the spring. We have seen them on almost every walk. This morning I saw that familiar red resting on the ground. One of our neighborhood male cardinals lay still. I did not see his mate, but wondered what she will do.***

Flash of red in the street, near the curb.

I refused to get too close, but it is clearly a male cardinal.

NOTES:

* While I usually try to use a plant's common name, the coreopsis' common name is "tick seed." I prefer coreopsis. There are many varieties - different colors and "double" petaled flowers. This one is a "dwarf." I had some I grew from seeds I found on a walk (it was growing in the street, for heaven's sake). One of my favorite neighbors (she of the 4 gardeners and lilting southern accent - gone now, but an unforgettable "lady") confessed that she "saved" seeds from my plant. I laughed and confessed that it was the same way I got my plant.

** Native pecans, mind you, know. I'm not sure about hybrid varieties. We have the good fortune of having a large native pecan tree in the side yard. It does also seek out our plumbing - a mixed blessing I suppose.

***http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Cardinal.html

I read elsewhere that the life expectancy for a cardinal is a year. So those birds I thought I recognized from year to year are probably different birds (but they could be related, right?).