Cyclamen add bright color to a winter garden

During the dreary days of winter, I love to see some pop of color in my garden. Cyclamen is a wonderful winter annual that provides color with beautiful blooms and heart shaped leaves.

They look spectacular sprinkled throughout the garden or planted in groups. My intention when planting them is to make the planting look organic as possible. As if they decided to spring up all on their own.

With so many different variety of colors available, it is hard to buy just one. Their beauty and cold hardiness in TX winters makes them one of my favorite winter annuals.

Butterflies in December

The warmer weather and sunshine brought out the butterflies in the garden. This Gulf Fritillary was enjoying sipping from the Pineapple Sage. 

The Pineapple Sage has been a butterfly and bee magnet.

These little yellow butterflies have been out in full force. They are everywhere!

One of my favorite butterflies is the Common blue or Reakirt's blue. It is about the size of a moth and if you blink, you might miss it.

It has this dazzling, iridescent blue color on the inside of it's wings. The Queen FBA (Future Butterfly of America) decided to get in on the shot. 
  
Only in the South do you get to see butterflies this time of year.

A Walk around the Garden - December

The garden is winding down for a winter's nap. There are still some blooms, however the cold fronts have zapped some of the flowers. Here is a look at what is happening in the garden this December.

The cooler weather brought a flush of blooms to the Firespike.

I spotted this Rufous hummingbird in the Nandina bush. I was surprised to see two hummingbirds fighting over the feeder.

One Rufous hummingbird decided to stay the winter in our backyard last year. How great would it be to have two this year.

During this busy time of year, hope you find the time to enjoy nature.