Tour of the yard

I got the tour of the yard today from the next to next door neighbor, Teresa. I had already been told what's planted in the yard by one of the daughters who grew up here but it was winter and hard to remember what was what since nothing was blooming. Teresa knows a lot about what was planted and when and she helped me sort out what were weeds and what were not. The "carnation" tree Michael likes is an ornamental cherry. In these pictures the red orange flowered bush is a Japanese quince. It will actually bear fruit. The ground cover is vinca or periwinkle. I didn't recognize it because I don't remember any blue varieties in Texas. (It's also weird that they don't seem to have red or white azales here, only purple.) The third picture is wild forget-me-nots that Teresa pointed out. I had already found the lemon verbena but she said we also have spearmint and something she calls chocolate mint. She showed me that we also have lilacs blooming in the back, a spirea bush and also clematis. She said to keep an eye out for pink lilies of the valley (I didn't know there was such a thing.) Teresa showed me foxgloves coming up which are not blooming yet and something she called a "penny" plant. I think my mom used to call it "money" plant. The strange bushes in the front of the yard are peonies. I remember those from Indiana when we lived there. I've never known a bush to attract more bees. And since we have a hive in our yard already, we may have to wear bee-keeping equipment to barbecue in the backyard. She showed me how to harvest the rhubarb we have coming up in multiple places.

After my yard tour, she went home but later brought back a bowl of rhubarb sauce which she had made. What a lovely person. She has really made me feel welcome.

Michael is gone for three days to finish up at Fort Worth. At last he will stop looking like a gunslinger. He's been toting two cell phones, one on each hip for months now. Once they close up the Fort Worth facility, he can hang up one of his guns! And he'll be working one job instead of two. So he'll be able to get out and enjoy working in our wonderful yard.