Spring is sprung already.

Lots to do in the garden--primarily, weeding!  But it's hard to do some of it, because lots of the weeds are actually native wildflowers, and they're beautiful right now after weeks of mild rainfall.  Very green here--we even had to mow the front yard (okay he did.  I planted marigolds.)

Our garden has been hugely neglected over the winter--which here is really one of the best times to grow veggies.  But the arugula has bolted and I'm letting it set seed--it's kinda cool to go out in the yard for salad greens every night, but they're bitter once they flower.

The larkspur and poppy seed I scattered everywhere last year are sprouting--some of the larkspur is already tall and flowering!  (That's the tall purple stuff.  The short hot pink stuff is native phlox.)  There's also a native weed vine that grows rampant here all over, and I tend to let it do it's thing and grow because it's a member of the pea family, and does a good job of fixing nitrogen--which can be in short supply in our sandy soil.  Still, it makes for a messy looking garden.

Kale is NOT among my husbands favorite vegetables.  Guess I'll be eating lots of it myself.

The birds are already nesting in this my Dia Head gourd...both his eyes are the doors, and last year it was pretty funny to watch both mom and dad birds sitting with their tails sticking out of it.  In the lower left you can see the neighbor's palm tree.

The ceramic wind chime (more like wind-clink) I made a few years ago only seems to house wasp nests, but since they eat grasshoppers and don't really bother us, I let them stay.

The agave nursery is doing well--despite one or two frosty nights last December.  I have another giant agave (also called a century plant) out front with pups alllll around it, so I'll dig them up and pot them just like these, and sell the pups on Craigslist this spring.  Good desert landscape plants, and they get four or five feet across...very impressive.  The taller yucca looking ones are native New Mexican soap tree yuccas.  I brought babies with me from Las Cruces when we lived there.  I have some in the ground, but some I'm taking with me when we move again.

I love marigolds.  The ones I found yesterday are huge!