Views of the Neighborhood – Houston We Have Spring

~ John W. Howell

Today, we are celebrating the arrival of signs of Spring here in the neighborhood. We are catered by Restaurant François of Austin. Our entertainment is Elvis.

Menu

Boneless Wagyu Short Ribs Bourguignon – Bacon lardons/pearl onions, mushroom/pomme mousseline

Duck 2 Ways – Roasted breast/confit leg,  alsatian cabbage, tart cherry sauce

Roast Rack of Lamb – Tian of spinach and mushrooms, cassis sauce

Center Cut 10oz. Filet Mignon

Swordfish Steak au Poivre – Spinach/lobster sauce

King Salmon – Beluga lentils/dill white wine sauce

Gulf Red Snapper – Celeriac pomme puree / jumbo lump crab meat – capers / beurre blanc

Dover Sole “Grenobloise” – Capers / lemon / brioche croutons / beurre noisette

Picture of an old time school bus

Let’s go.

The first bluebonnets.

The Carolina Jasmine is waking up.

The Mountain Laurels around the neighborhood are beautiful.

Nothing says Spring like a pot of annuals.

Our Cross Vine is in full bloom.

The patio area is looking like Spring

The roses are going to town.

Patunias look lovely.

What could be a better sign of Spring than a honey bee hovering over a crossvine bloom?

Time now to relax with food and entertainment. I hope you have a super week.

83 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Houston We Have Spring”

  8. Beautiful! It’s always race here as to which comes first, tax day or Spring. My money is on the former. But our snow is 99% gone so that’s a plus all the flowers are beautiful and your roses will be plentiful. I’ll have the rack of lamb and Elvis has a song for everything, good choice.

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  11. First – wow !!! What a menu. I’ll start with the duck and then the rest in to-go boxes please. Your yard looks great. We have zip here. Still in the 30s at night. maybe a break in a day or two. Patience is a tough pill. Maybe Daylight Saving will help.

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  15. Haha, well, I ended up with hay fever instead of spring fever, but I very much enjoyed that video, John. 😀 Everything in the neighborhood looks wonderful, particularly the plants at your place. Your cross vine (is that a kind of trumpet vine?) is absolutely splendid. Hugs to you and yours.

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    1. I asked our friends at AI the question. Here is the answer. Yes, crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) is similar to trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) in that both are Texas-native, vigorous, climbing vines with tubular, hummingbird-attracting, trumpet-shaped flowers. However, crossvine is a much better-behaved, evergreen (or semi-evergreen) alternative that is less aggressive and does not spread by suckers like the true trumpet vine. 😀

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  17. Thank you, John, for these lovely Spring photos! They give me hope that eventually, we, too, will have some Spring. I think the return of color is especially uplifting, after seeing nothing but brown trees and white snow.

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  22. I am SO JEALOUS!!! We haven’t yet seen the first sign of spring … not a bud on a tree nor a hovering bee! Enjoy your early spring … maybe by this time next month we’ll start to see some signs of life out there. Meanwhile … at least we were able to get outside without coats this weekend!

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  24. I’ve seen daffodils blooming around here and a few Bradford pear trees, but we’re supposed to dip back into freezing temps again next week. So not fair. Your shrubs and flowers look great!

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