It's been a long winter, with little rain and now the wind is blowing pollen everywhere. It's a miracle that anything wants to bloom as harsh as the weather has been or should I say anti-specific. It really doesn't want to be cold, nor hot, definitely not wet, but yet, the flowers bloom. My first pink rose of 2009. Belinda's Dream http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/cemap/rosebelinda/rosebelinda.html
Coming home last night the sky was blue but the winds were blowing so hard my roses were scattering their petals across the drive like it was snowing. But because I did my feeding, the buds are popping out all over in a beautiful array of pink. Light pink, hot pink...my favorite rose. Even my trees are budding with the wind whipping them. I've nested here at 11227 since 1997 and planted almost every tree. The builder did make a stab at a few (now long gone shrubs, but no trees, except for the grouping in the front). This beautiful tree was less than 12 inches tall when I brought it home and it took a whole week-end to dig through the rock to get it in the ground. I never thought it would stand so proud or grow and flourish as it has.
Even now, 12 year later, when I dig in my flower beds, rocks are still buried beneath the soil...no that would be rock/sand and are to be dealt with. I've dug every flower bed, pulled every weed and mulched every bed. An orthopaedic surgeon here in SA,TX can attest to surgically repairing a really torn rotator cuff that tugged and pulled at 40 lb. bags of mulch (200 bags to be exact). When he asked my son, Sam "what does your Mom do that she tore this shoulder up so bad?" Sam's response: "Whatever she wants to but I think she was spreading mulch." There were so many bags that planting season...the year after repair surgery I couldn't tolerate the smell that permeated so many of our small nurseries and big box stores with their new shipments of mulch and peat moss. I would take another route into the store and there was no mulching 11227 that year. And doesn't everybody love the fresh smell of grass and mulch at the start of spring...I know I do. Now, I'm not saying I've done the mowing and edging at 11227 because that would take away from the kindly fellow that magically appears every Thursday between April 1 and October 1 since 1997. In all these years he's missed only one Thursday of making sure my lawn welcomes me home as manicured as this hot Texas sun will allow, given water restrictions from lack of rainfall. http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/ But, as a community, I think we make a big effort to preserve our Aquifer and I know I watch out for those "water cops." The dirt digging, weeding and pruning are my chores but once I get the energy going, I love to garden. I'm proud to say that my trees are all standing tall as though they are ready to march right through summer despite a tepid winter and little rainfall. I hope you enjoy the blooms and blossoms I've seen this month and it inspires you to plant a little something.
Azaleas in League City, Tx. 
A neighbor's climbing Bouganvilla...hot pink...one of my favorite's and it grows well in this hot spring and cool nights.
Everything is blooming now and we've had a bit of rain. Everything seems so new ...there is nothing quite as pleasant except maybe a walk in the evening hours or watching your adult "kiddo" mow his baseball field where you can hear the trees rustle, the birds chirping around and the bees harmonizing with life as they drift among the flowers. Of course, Coach is asking: "Can I mow over this, what about this?" That would be negative to the bluebonnets that blanket the field behind his outfield! 
I think springtime is like a little taste of heaven with green grass from the rain, popping up everywhere, plants bursting open with their blooms...sometimes as a complete surprise. I had a beautiful friend, Dorothy Guynes, who always asked "Did you just buy that sick plant on sale to show you could make it well again?" No, I usually bought sick, half dead plants because they were a bargain but I did enjoy the challenge. These two crepe myrtles were 99 cents, on sale, half dead and I thought I was planting "Dwarf crepe myrtles" with the specific goal of NOT overpowering the yard or growing something "taller than 42 inches." You can share in my surprise...they are definitely not "dwarf" and they've been pruned over the years and bloom all summer, one a beautiful white and the other...you guessed it, hot pink...which can make for snowfall over the swimming pool sprinkled with petals of pink!
It's worth all the scooping of blooms when it's 105 degress on a hot San Antonio day and you can take a quick dip with intermittent gardening not to count enjoying a cool salad with the fruits of your labor...folks, meet Tommy the Tomato. I do admit to being in a bit of competition with a friend and we count blooms with every conversation. All in fun...seeing if the results of our hard work live up to expectations. With three tomato plants, I expect a full harvest but with my neighbor's tree trying to hang out over the fence, it's branches like some muscle man arms, it may impede my tomato's best efforts...just too much shade. Tommy may be moving to a new location in the near future! 
Gardening has always been an important part of my life and with the weather as mild as it is in San Antonio, I could, given the time, garden year-round, though in the dog days of summer it's hard work to get things to grow. San Antonio has over 600 classroom gardens, many supervised by graduates of the local Master Gardener program. http://www.texasmastergardeners.com The 475+ members make this small city in southern Texas the home of the most active Master Gardener chapter in the United States and Canada. Hopefully, the city gardens have received a nice drink and a few showers are on the way this week because we all know: 
I don't think I've ever appreciated rain as much as I do now that I live in San Antonio. It's not to say that I've gotten over my fear of bad thunderstorms and lightning and certainly miss my Mom to talk to me on the phone to pass the time while even hail drops like golf balls on a May day, but I think God is softly whispering to us as the rains caress our countryside with little droplets of life, clean and fresh. I believe if we listen very closely there's no doubt that He'll impart...the freshness of spring upon your soul, and a flower in your heart! I wish that for all my family and friends.
~Happy Gardening
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