Common Oxalis

Common Oxalis wildflowers

We currently have a very pretty edge plant growing in our front flower bed. The Common Oxalis is native to the area, the leaves resemble clover, and they have lovely delicate yellow blooms. I’ve read that they will flower all spring, summer, and fall. We have another Oxalis growing in the shade of the trees that can’t take the Texas heat and goes dormant during the summer. We’ll see how these do. The kicker? I didn’t plant these. They grew in as a border plant on their own. I do need to corral a few wayward explorers, but on the whole, they did quite a nice job filling in a space that needed filling. If they survive our summer, I think I’ll keep them.

Henbit Bouquet

Hens eating henbit flowers and leaves

One of our first wild flowers to bloom here is henbit, with their delicate purple flowers. As they grow in the meadow outside the run, the chickens appreciate it when I gather some to share with them. Appreciate might not be quite the right word, as they are hopping before I get in the run, and the bouquet doesn’t last long against the ravenous hoard.

Bud

This is quite exciting; it looks like the oak leafed hydrangea is budding! I would love for this particular plant to flourish and take over the shaded area between the trees in the front yard. It might take ten years, but buds on the twigs after the first winter is a good start!

Budding hydrangea twig

Wild plum blooms

Wild Plum Blooms

It must be spring. Our wild plum trees are blooming. The first year we moved here there were actually tiny plums in late October, early November. The last few years the summer has been too dry and there has been little to no fruit, certainly not enough to make some wild plum jam. Maybe this summer will have more moisture, maybe. We are currently under wild fire alerts, so hopes are not high.

It’s Spring

Well, the onions in my pantry think it is Spring. The weather has been rather indecisive, switching between winter and summer with a only a few hours of pleasantness in between. I hadn’t even opened this bag of onions yet. I briefly thought about planting them, but I have no soil prepared, and have had abysmal luck with growing onions in the past. So I freed them from the bag and chopped up the sprouted bulbs. The outer layers were rather gooey and I discarded them, but the inside still had nice crisp onion bits. The sprouts themselves taste just a little stronger than scallions, so I chopped them separate and will use them for my egg drop soup. The rest I tucked into my freezer for use later, since I don’t use three onions at a time. Though if I did, I would probably get my six feet of separation without having to ask, or sidling quietly sideways. That is one recommendation that I already practiced pre-pandemic, as I have a very large personal space.

Onions sprouting through the bag