flowers — Page 122

Blooming

April 24, 2019 at 9:00 am by Claudia

In the midst of shoveling mulch onto the soil in the garden, I moseyed on over to the lilac bush. It’s full of flower buds! More than last year. Huzzah!

Our crabapples are also blooming – the one next to the catalpa bloomed first.

I cannot tell you how all of this makes my heart sing.

As I said to Don yesterday, “I’m happier in the spring.” That’s just the way it is. I’m in the middle of a lot of the physical labor that is required to get the gardens and the property in shape, so my muscles are complaining; nevertheless, I love being out there.

There are challenges this year and some that will test my ability to do things on a very small budget. When we lost the huge limb on our maple, that part of the big garden bed was no longer in shade. The lovely crown vetch that worked as ground cover for approximately half of that huge bed gradually died off. Crown vetch only thrives in the shade. Consequently, I have large sections that have nothing growing and that was made clear when I was mulching yesterday.

I added a couple of plants last year, but I need to step up my game and add more this year. On a budget.

Then there is the unexplained absence of a couple of perennials that just didn’t emerge this year. One is the oriental poppy; it’s happened before, though. I remember a few springs where I just assumed it had died only to have it reemerge the next spring. It decided not to show itself this year. Also not showing itself – the scentimental balloon flower.

I think it has to do with the kind of winter we had. Ours was warm, then unbelievably cold, then warm, then cold – and many of the snowfalls started off as snow, turned to rain and then turned to ice. I suspect this has something to do with it. If I was more industrious, I’d track it. Anyway, I miss those plants.

On the other hand, the lone tulip that has been on this property for years and years has a flower about to open. For the past few years, only the leaves emerged. Go figure.

Gardening is rewarding and mysterious. And sometimes you just can’t come up with an explanation.

Blooming all over our lawn.

Soon, the buttercups will also be blooming.

Today is the fifth anniversary of my mom’s transition. I miss her every day. Not only was she my mom – the best mom – but she was also my friend. I really liked her. I miss talking to her. She adored all her sons-in-law, you know. One of my favorite memories: when she knew I was out of town working and Don was home by himself, she always called him. She looked forward to these nice, long chats. It was so sweet. Don loved it and I loved knowing that they had ‘their talks.’

I miss her. We miss her.

Happy Wednesday.

An Outdoors Kind of Day

April 23, 2019 at 9:24 am by Claudia

We’ll settle for a photo of an indoor plant until all the green things coming out of the ground get a bit bigger. And there are so many green things sprouting up here and there and everywhere (including weeds!) I bought some mulch yesterday and this morning, I will start adding it to the big garden bed. I’ve trimmed the boxwoods and cleaned out the debris in the bed in front of the porch. There’s much to do, of course, but every day I get a bit more done.

We got our new wheelbarrow, which helped enormously as we dismantled the raised bed by the kitchen door, which has been there since before we moved here. The sides were made of railroad ties and the wood had rotted so much that they were barely staying in place. Dismantling it meant shoveling out a lot of soil and depositing it up in the woods – several trips with the wheelbarrow. I’m not sure what I’m going to do there now – I’d love to buy some sort of sizable galvanized tub in which I could plant some hollyhocks and lavender – the plants I routinely had in the raised bed. A vintage tub would be even better. But they can be pricey and pricey won’t float this year!

Today – hallelujah! – it’s going to reach 75 degrees and be sunny most of the day. Of course, the obligatory thunderstorms will follow, but the trade-off is worth it. I see tiny leaves on the maples, the hickory and other trees up in the woods. The big bush in the garden bed is in full leaf and the danged brambles are too, which means I have to do some trimming – which is putting it mildly.

All in all, a nice day to work outside.

Happy Tuesday.

Little Scamps

April 18, 2019 at 10:16 am by Claudia

I worked outside for several hours yesterday. I used muscles I haven’t used in a while.

Oh my.

I managed to finish a first pass at clearing nearly all the garden beds. I’ll go back and do more in a week or so – which is fortunate, since we have a lot of rain in the forecast.

Sedum, hostas, daylilies, the very beginnings of all the coneflowers – they’re all there. The hydrangeas have green buds on them. Suddenly, all the surrounding vegetation – the brambles/wild roses, some of the smaller trees – are green. Oh, how lovely!

The first daffodils:

These are the daffodils that are right on the edge of the woods. In fact, I have a story to tell you. I stopped in the middle of loading tarps with leaves and debris when I saw the splash of yellow. Of course, I took the obligatory picture and while I as standing there, I noticed what looked like trash in the woods. Thinking it was a random plastic bag that had been blown there during one of our many “wind events” I headed up there to get it. Much to my surprise, there was not only the plastic bag, but all sorts of trash scattered about from one of our kitchen trash bags.

Then it came to me. About a week and half ago, some raccoons tipped over our trash can and there was debris strewed on the ground near the can. Don cleaned it up, took everything to be recycled, and that was that.

These little scamps grabbed a bag and took it up into the woods!

I went in the house, got a trash bag, and picked everything up.

Then I stood up, ready to head back to the trash can, and I saw another bag several feet away. More trash to pick up.

Then – far off in the woods – I saw ANOTHER bag. These guys had dragged three bags up to the woods. After cleaning it all up, I couldn’t help but laugh. Don and I were wishing we had some sort of infrared outdoor camera to record these hijinks!

I’m grateful the woods is still relatively bare because I could get to everything. It would be much harder to get in there come summertime.

Raccoons mess with our trash rarely and I’m hoping it stays that way.

Yesterday’s theme: Pairs.

On the left, morning glory egg cups found in a Paris flea market. Then the egg cups we found at Abbey Road Studios in London. Then, two beautiful bluebird egg cups from Germany. And finally, two wooden egg cups.

There’s a few more egg cup posts to share with you as we head toward Easter.

Besides the happiness at sharing these little beauties with you, I really enjoy seeing them all again.

Happy Thursday.

Blooming

An Outdoors Kind of Day

Little Scamps

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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