I like gardening, but...

The winter really did a number on the yard. All of the sago palms were frozen and are completely brown. I'll have to cut all the fronds and let them start over. The gingers died back and now the stalks are falling over. So I guess it's time to get moving and clean things up. 

There are already signs of Spring popping up. Mounds of oxalis, also know as pink wood sorrel and windowbox sorrel, are beginning to bloom along the sidewalk. Some folks think it's a weed and should be drowned in chemicals. Not I said the little red hen. It's a cheerful and beautiful little gift from Mother Nature.

Oxalix rubra

Azalea blossoms are starting to pop and one of the first this season was my favorite - the George Lindley Taber Southern Indica azalea. Mine is still on the small side, maybe 2' x 4'. They can reach 4-6' in height and width when mature.

George Lindley Taber azalea

Roses in March is not the norm for most gardeners. I'm lucky enough to live in a sub-tropical climate and my Joseph's Coat climbing rose has blooms all year. Not a great many, mind you, but at least 1 or 2 all the time. I love how the blooms are clustered for an instant bouquet.

Joseph's Coat climbing rose bush

The toad has resurfaced. I still don't know where his permanent home is but today I caught him climbing out of the empty Oriental planter on the patio.

Southern toad (bufo terrestris)

Southern toad (bufo terrestris)

A northern mockingbird has decided to sit on my porch roof every morning and sing me a wake-up song. Well, I like to think he's singing to me. More likely he's trying to impress a girl mockingbird. Either way, he has a lovely voice and makes waking up a little easier. Did I say he was loud? Yeah buddy!

Click the caption to hear a mockingbird sing

Northern mockingbird (mimus polyglottos)

Colors of the Rainbow

 Blue Jay

 Male house finch

 Male & female house finch

 Male red-bellied woodpecker

 

The Blue Jay is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to North America. It is resident through most of eastern and central United States and southern Canada, although western populations may be migratory.

·         Scientific name: Cyanocitta cristata

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Cyanocitta

 

The House Finch is a bird in the finch family Fringillidae, which is found in North America. This species and the other "American rosefinches" are placed in the genus Haemorhous by the American

·         Scientific name: Carpodacus mexicanus

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Carpodacus

 

The Red-bellied Woodpecker is a medium-sized woodpecker of the Picidae family. It breeds in southern Canada and the northeastern United States, ranging as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas.

·         Scientific name: Melanerpes carolinus

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Melanerpes

 

-Wikipedia

Grabbing A Snack

This female northern cardinal landed on the feeder right after the squirrel had dumped all the seeds out it it. She managed to find one and the sunlight hit it just as I snapped the photo.

The Northern Cardinal is a North American bird in the genus Cardinalis; it is also known colloquially as the redbird or common cardinal.

·         Scientific name: Cardinalis cardinalis

·         Symbol of: Illinois

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Cardinalis

-Wikipedia

 

New Visitor

 

This little fellow showed up in the yard Sunday and, to the best of my identification skills, I've decided he is an Eastern Phoebe, a member of the flycatcher family. So far I've only seen the one but migration season is starting so I'll keep a lookout for more. 

According to the National Audubon Society Field Guide to Birds, a phoebe was "probably the first bird ever banded: Audubon marked one with a silver wire on the leg in 1840 and recorded its return the following year." 

 

 

The Eastern Phoebe is a small passerine bird. This tyrant flycatcher breeds in eastern North America, although its normal range does not include the southeastern coastal United States. 

·         Scientific name: Sayornis phoebe

·         Rank: Species

·         Higher classification: Phoebe

-Wikipedia