Snowball Bush

My Snowball bush is blooming this year - not lots of blooms yet, but more than last year.  It is one of my favorites.

What is your favorite shrub in your garden?

Mandavilla Vine

A lovely Mothers' Day gift from our oldest daughter and her family.  It is a subtropical plant and has to be overwintered indoors in our climate.  It has wonderful big flowers - and such interesting buds.  And can grow to ten feet - I'm going to try and train it along the deck railing.

It sits on the deck and I can see it from my chair in the living room - the hummingbirds love it, but I've not been quick enough to get a picture of them at the flowers yet, but I shall.

I had never heard of this plant before - but I'm so happy to have one.  Have you seen or grown one before?

Hummingbird HIgh

We have a pair of hummingbirds that are nesting high up in a tree.  Every day the male comes out and sits on a leafless branch.  I spotted him from our deck across the street and half a block away.

 A close up - as close up as I could get from that distance - of our sweet hummingbird on his branch.

These two trees are 40 or 50 feet tall, the nest seems to be in the tree on the right - near the top.  That is where we see the hummingbird flying in and out for most of the day.  I'm so happy I spotted him on the branch and now can watch him every day.  I tried close ups of the tree, but the nests are so tiny I couldn't make out anything that seemed to be a nest.