On the second day of our celebration of spring weekend 2026, we attended the 35th annual RGV Big Bloom Home and Garden Show at the McAllen Convention Centre.
Even though this was the 35th year of the show, it was the first time we’d heard of it.
With over 200 vendors, this event featured literally everything from bedknobs to broomsticks and everything in between.
It was a wonderfully apt way to welcome spring.
This section had plants native to the RGVCreative use of BurlEvery cactus and succulent one could imagineFlower pot decorations Glass flowersHand carved military memorabilia Funky clothingMany food vendors, most with tasting samplesLawn furniture galoreBBQ’s and Smokers of every type and sizeApparently the leaves are used in India to make a med that lowers blood sugar This large outdoor courtyard was filled with plants and potsTalavera pottery – my favourite These ceramic plant pots caught my eyeHubs bought two for me 😊
Now that we know about this event, we’ll definitely attend again next year. It was a couple of well spent hours that truly brought home the feeling of spring.
Because the official first day of spring fell on a Friday, hubs and I decided to spend the weekend welcoming the new season by doing new things.
On Friday, we visited the Veterans War Memorialof Texas in McAllen, TX.
Hubs and I have passed this park many times over the years, but have never stopped to take it in.
The 3.5 acre site was opened in 1990 and pays tribute to the 1.4 million Americans who were killed or missing in action in every conflict the nation has been involved in.
There are 160 tall granite panels, each engraved with a plethora of historical information. To read it all, one would have to spend several hours there. Because it was a hot day, we browsed and read a bit from each plaza and I took photos of every block, so we could read them later.
Each plaza is made up of several granite panels arranged in a circle and has its own theme.
At the centre of the site is a 104 ft tall granite monolith. It’s named the American Spire of Honour.
There is a statue of a female officer at each entrance A Sobering experience Memorial to WAC and WAVE membersGeneral Bernardo de GalvezPatrick HenryGeorge WashingtonMartha Washington This shows the amount of engraving on each panel
This was well worth the stop and we’ll definitely visit again on a cooler day.
Spring weather in deep south Texasbasically happens all winter long.
One hint that spring is sneaking up on us here is the flush of white blossoms on our back yard orange tree.
Soon, we’ll be heading back to our home in Canada, where spring will become glaringly apparent by about mid April to early May.
There will likely still be snow when we arrive home in a couple of weeks. The nice thing about driving home vs flying is that we have time to acclimatize on the way north.
Jumping (via a flight) from the current mid 30° C (mid 90° F) temperatures in South Texas to our near or below freezing temps at home in Saskatchewan, Canada, would be too much of a shock to our systems.
I recall a nature photography class where the instructor (a professional photographer) said, when photographing birds, the key is to get a good shot of the eye and to be sure that the eye is at a junction of two grid lines. He said that this would give the most impact and that if that junction wasn’t set exactly in the photo, a post-processing crop could be done to make that happen.
I was fortunate that this pelican rested perfectly still on the pier railing, so that I could get close enough to set up the shot.
Once I was finished with ChatGPT assisting me with indoors, I decided to take it outside to see how it would do with landscaping.
On the positive side, the app was able to follow my directions: compact growth, drought resistant, minimal care, hardy in zone 10a, and starter plants available nearby.
Where we ran into issues was: The first rendition wasn’t even our house in the background.
The next issue was that once our actual front was back in the photo, the labels on the plants were skewed and all wrong.
Next issue was that I did not want a prickly pear because it’s not in the compact plant category. I’ve seen here how it takes off to become almost a tree. Also, the red yucca was too tall. When I entered these comments, this is what I got back.
It was “just ok” but looked bulky to me.
I then asked for a switch to potted plants.
These were the suggestions:
I didn’t mind these, but these huge pots, especially the Mexican Talavera ones (which I love) would cost me a fortune.
Which of these five do you, my readers prefer?
This project is down the road, as next year, the house is getting new siding, the soffit under the deck roofing will be replaced, and the deck will be jacked up to straighten it. All of that needs to happen before I even consider landscaping in this spot.
Pharr, Texas is four miles down the road from where we winter.
Hubs’ favourite street in Pharr is Cage Blvd because of the iconic cowboy welcome sign that sits high above the entry to the street. Hubs says it reminds him of the famous neon “Welcome to Vegas” cowboy.
My fave spot is up a couple of blocks on the corner of Cage Blvd and Kelly Ave.
Although weathered and missing an A on one side of its tall vertical column sign, this place just begged to be researched
The long vacant Texan Hotel and Chung Mei Kitchen restaurant has always intrigued me.
Through looking for some history of the hotel, I learned that the welcome to Pharr cowboy originally sat on top of the Texan Hotel sign.
Web Image
In 1984, Du Ong Lee, long time owner of the hotel and restaurant was featured in a local newspaper.
Now, it’s my mission to visit the Pharr Memorial Library. Isn’t it funny how once we start researching, one curiosity often leads to another?
It was fun to learn that the two things that hubs and I love most about Pharrhave a strong connection.
After seeing a group of 15 Javelinas coming up from salt flats near here (another post coming about the flats), I learned that a group of these characters that look like wild pigs, but are another species altogether,is called a squadron.
Every year at this time, McAllen, Texas (our neighbouring city) hosts “The Golden Age Olympics”. It runs over several weeks and includes every event from race walking to jigsaw puzzles (yes, you read that right – it’s a timed event) and winners come away with medals as well as bragging rights.
Each year, there is a different overall theme, and this year, as you’ve no doubt guessed already, the theme is Mardi Gras.
My feature photo was shot at the community hall where hubs registered for the poker event.
The title of my post, translated to English on this banner, is always the theme for New Orleans Mardi Gras – and is so appropriate for the fun and games happening dailyat the Golden Age Olympic Games
I had planned to enter the 5K race walk this year, and am ready for it. Unfortunately, it was downsized this year to a 1.6 K (one mile) race. That’s about the distance I walk at my warm up pace.
I could figure out a way around it, I suppose, but decided not to this year. I’d have to find a warm up spot close to therace path and then work on it. I have neither the time nor the inclination to do that this year.
Just when I thought I must have seen every type of palm tree known to man, what should appear, but a Ponytail Palm?
I decided to check with Professor Google, and apparently, there are over 2600 species of palm trees, so no, I’ve definitely not seen them all, nor will I live long enough to do so.
Radically Retired 