§ I Promised You a Rose Garden....

Several sculptures and topiary works are strategically placed on the grounds, and as I said, for birders or wildlife enthusiasts, you find many covered observation areas such as these. The windmill is actually part of a work of art...below [not seen in photo - it's on the other side of the hedge] there are two bronze sculptures of ranch hands taking part by cupping their hands and drinking the cool spring water on the parched Texas Ranch lands.  The covered gazebo is situated on the edge of the larger of the two lakes on the property:

aloe vera is in the desert section...many varieties:

Bottle Brush Bushes/trees are an attraction in the hummingbird garden, where certain flowers are planted and blooming to attract the migrant hummers...

Then, taking a turn on the trail, you enter the rose garden cotillion.  But first, a fountain...




...now on to the roses in bloom:









Gardens Part I

Gardens Part II

§ Riding in the Desert on a Horse With No Name...

Okay, I realize the title here has nothing to do with the gardens. But, but....it's the only thing I could think of that pertains to the Desert Garden at our Botanical Garden.  One of my favorite songs [linked above]...
I've actually BEEN in the desert on a horse when living in Tucson...did the horse have a name? Probably, but I like this song, 'cause the lyrics really can be quite truthful. Okay, 'nough of that, moving on down....

- - -

Besides the 'free' wild birds that are found on the lakes and in the trees and shrubs along the paths, near the gift shop and orchid house there are caged birds [and a caged iguana]...once found in the tropics such as this one that will greet you as you step out the door to peruse the grounds. A sweet hello is oftentimes heard...

There is a butterfly house along the one walkway as you leave the caged birds, and the desert garden is beyond this area, filled with cactus and different types of agave. The massive cactus seen here is an Organ Pipe Cactus which I've been there when it is blooming [blossom seen HERE]. And the orange blossom of the agave, look closely; a wasp is gathering nectar...

On a hot, humid day there are benches nestled in the shaded areas for cooling off and the boardwalk extends beyond taking you into the untamed, more wild area all the way to the creek that is often flooded during the wet season.

When the birding is over, and I head back to peruse the gift shop, this time I stopped at the Rose Garden Cotillion. Those pictures, the last stop for photo ops at the Botanical Gardens for this time of year, will conclude my day in the next posting...

PART I

§ Spring by the Bay...

1] A good way to end the month and begin a new one is...
2] March will soon be here and Springtime temperatures will warm us.
3] Wildflowers will show in some hidden places.

FIVE RANDOM FLOWERS for FRIDAY
and weekend!


4] Spikes of desert yucca reach for the sky
giving off some unexpected, highly anticipated pleasure.
5] Some cloaked in morning dew, others sun-kissed, and---

Today, images have mouseover text 
- scroll mouse over photo, pause, and read caption -









---The Easter Bunny's on its way...

linking to:  Skywatch Friday, Random 5 Friday, Camera Critters, Saturday Critters, WEEKLY TOP SHOT and SUNLIT SUNDAY

§ I Never Promised You a Rose Garden...

Easter has come and gone, but my Easter Lilies didn't know that the holiday came so early this year!! They're just now opening into blossoms. Oh, Easter was here, and there WERE lily buds, but none opened 'til this week. It's not nice to fool mother nature. Right? It makes April a very long month. LOL Along with the lily plants, I was out watering in the front yard area along the foundation, and mixed in with the ferns, I happened to notice that the amaryllis are getting heavy with budding and the red one is beginning to open with its deep rich ruby red color!! I'm always thrilled to see that they survive the harsh winters for the past three years now, not because of extreme cold temperatures, but the drought. During the winter months, the bulbs are all that 'peek' through the soil...looking mighty forlorn and dried up. But each Spring, so far, they perk up and the green shoots appear. Guess they're more hardy than I realized. Besides the red amaryllis, I have a salmon pink one, a white one, and a pink/white striped. They're just budding, no full bloom yet, but the anticipation is always something I keep a close vigil on 'til they ARE in full bloom. My mother had them in Colorado as houseplants and they bloomed for the Christmas season, but here in South Texas, they do well outdoors in the ground.

Also, in the back yard, the Oriental Iris have bloomed and are now on their way to summer dormancy once again.

This is the best time of year for roses. Altho, I took most of ours out last year 'cause they suffered badly without enough rainfall, I still have a few. The Pink Don Juan Climbing Rose, and the Don Juan Red Climbing rose that I trained to meander in and through the Texas Sage Bush. Of course the Lady Banks Rose doesn't really get too badly damaged as it's a 'desert dweller'...very tolerant of extreme heat and dry, arid zones. Earlier, it bloomed profusely, but it too is now finished for the season. Along one of the birding trails in Port Aransas, the flowers that they have along the path before you arrive at the ponds, those roses were gorgeous in the shaded areas below the fern like leaf draping of the mighty mesquite trees.The yellow rose, of course, so rich in color was the one that attracted me from the beginning. The red roses were deep and rich, but mostly quite a lot of insect damage it seemed; not too pretty so I skipped over them and photographed the lucious pink variety!! Along with the roses and mesquite trees, the path winds around the fencing and an abundance of other flowers create a walk of nothing but color. Purple, pink, yellow, white, orange, blue...all colors of the rainbow. From roses, to vines of trumpet flowers, petunias, and oh so many more that I really can't recall all of them at the moment of this typing. Even along the shoreline of the Corpus Christi bay, in the sandy, more prarie-like surroundings that mingle with the beach and tidal ponds between Corpus Christi and Portland Texas, the beautiful candelabras of the yucca jut out of the dense brushland with beauty in the creamy white blossoms!! To me, with the beach and subtropical climate, when a desert plant thrives to a majestic size and covers the landscape so nicely, it's an extra treat to view along the normally overgown bushy areas of this particular birding trail!! I like the bay water backdrop in the scenes I see in Spring. Oh, and not to leave out this one; a favorite rose that is in our front yard. In fact there are four that are situated along the foundation of the front of the house, and they're more or less quite a bit 'evergreen'. Yes, they bloom nearly year 'round. February seems to be the only month they don't bloom. But the entire eleven remaining months, there are blossoms seen [tho sporadic at times]. In Spring of course, when the temps are mild, without extreme heat, their blossoms are especially pretty and robust! They remind me of wild roses, and the fragrance is quite similar to a wild rose also. But they are a patented rose, the "Simplicity". Someday, when this nasty El Nino or La Nina moves out of the drought stricken state of Texas, I plan to replace the roses I had to dig up. No rain, and all the watering each and every day didn't keep them alive and well. It was a sad day for me 'cause roses are a favorite flower.

§ ...in the desert

On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things


There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds


The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of sound

I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la...

After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red


After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was dead

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la...

After nine days I let the horse run free
'Cause the desert had turned to sea
There were plants and birds and rocks and things


there was sand and hills and rings
The ocean is a desert with it's life underground


And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no love

You see I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain
La, la...

CONNECTING TO:

PHOTO CREDITS:  Plants and amethyst rock [my birthstone] taken at our local Botanical Gardens desert area.  The "Ocean" is a desert is taken at Charlie's Pasture Birding Salt Flats Port Aransas Texas.
LYRICS: Here
YOUTUBE VIDEO LINK: Here




_ _ _




THE ARTICLE: A highway truck accident never sounded so delicious. A semitrailer hauling Hungry Jack pancake syrup collided with a highway median at the Buttermilk Pike overpass in northern Kentucky, causing the truckload of syrup to spill all over the highway.

* * *

And the comments this time...well, I can't help myself  -- "They were "tasty treat for anyone hungry for laughter"!!!



Cool Breeze posted: "Hungry Jack syrup truck spills onto Buttermilk Pike" ... Funniest headline yet! One could add: "Clean-up workers had a lot on their plate today!"

sndk500 posted: He saw a fork in the road and took it.

Guest posted: And in other news millions of ants have been spotted headed towards northern Kentucky

BloggingForDummies posted: In KY....had to be a log cabin nearby......

ohreally posted: Where was Aunt Jemima when all of this happened? No alibi, gunshot residue, pancake mix tracks and a blown out tire on Buttermilk Pike. Just sounds like too much of a coincidence.

m0 posted: who was driving? kevin bacon?

Anonymous posted: Now all we need is a milk truck to turn over to wash it all down.

Deb posted: The ants on the side of the road must think they died and went to heaven.

thaimonas posted: Where is the Land O lakes Butter Truck when you need one.......



Last one for the trash talk --- I could go on and on...the comments were just overwhelmingly funny for this article. I love it!!!! So, for this week, I'll close with this one:



Kramer posted: He was distracted when Mrs Butterworth lifted up her apron.








entire article Hungry Jack Syrup Spills on Buttermilk Pike
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