Country Fare: Into My Garden

The birds are in full swing this morning. They are singing their spring songs and building nests. We have barn swallows that like to build their condos under our patios. We have successfully deterred them from the front porch by hanging metallic streamers, but that system did not work for the back patio. Oh well, they do eat mosquitoes, so we will let them stay. I don't understand why they won't build in the eaves and under the porch cover of the barn. They must like company.

The pictures are plants that thrive in our Texas heat. I have lived at this location for 14 years, and I have tried many many plants. I have learned through trial and error that I do not want to spend all of my time in my flower beds, so I have finally settled on perennials that will return even after sub-zero winters and rainless summers. Most of my color are annuals planted in pots scattered throughout my yard. This helps keep my frustration level, water usage and amount spent on plants each year at a minimum.