Signs of hope

 Hello, everyone.

As y'all are no doubt aware, Texas had a terrible freezing spell a few weeks back. When the weather improved, we went out into our yard and discovered that it looked like a bomb had gone off. Dead shrubs all over! At least, they looked dead.

But not all was as it appeared.

The jasmine shrubs took a hard hit, but they're coming back. A few, tiny flower buds are already appearing.

The bulb tops died off, but the bases are coming back. This pot put out an impressive flush of blooms, and the other two pots are following along behind it. The succulent pot behind it is blooming in pale-yellow blossoms as well.

The vine that had been climbing on the pergola, a yellow allamanda that was here when we moved in, froze to the ground. We decided to replace it with a native vine that is hardier and more popular with hummingbirds.

The native honeysuckle is a strong grower (don't let it climb on wood siding!) but it will happily accept training to the pergola and bloom with abandon. 

We're hoping to replace the frozen-out tropicals with sturdier plants. Natives by preference, but hardy will do.