garden — Page 204

Rambling

May 17, 2014 at 9:28 am by Claudia

waterdropsonhosta

I just realized the other day that this is the first time I have been home for an entire spring since 2008. Starting in 2009, I was away all or most of the spring on coaching jobs. The good news? I am really enjoying the opportunity to watch everything grow instead of witnessing it via the occasional photo Don would send my way. I love spring.

The bad news? I need work.

Ah well. I’m choosing to be grateful.

We had very heavy rain all day yesterday with high humidity. It was bit tropical-rainforest-y around here. Today the sun is out and it’s a bit cooler. We’re hoping to take another trail walk later in the day.

daffs

Oh pretty daffodils, I love you. Of the two kinds of daffs on this property, this one is my favorite. I love the white flower with that delicate yellow and orange center.

biggesthosta

Our biggest hosta is well on its way to filling this bed – which it will, believe me.

I need to weed. I haven’t put down any mulch since I’m on a strict budget. That means I’m going to have to weed a lot more. Some of the garden beds will eventually be full of perennials and weeds will disappear, but right now, as they are filling in and filling out, I have to be ruthless.

Or not.

lilacbush

The little lilac bush that could. I planted this a few years back and it’s growing, for sure, but very slowly.

clematis

The clematis has taken off this year and is winding its way around the porch railings.

Oh right. I need to clean the porch railings – a job I really don’t look forward to.

The catalpa, usually the last of our trees to leaf out, has tiny leaves now. The shag hickory has leaves. The maples are fully leafed out (now I’m wondering – is that a legitimate term?) as are the ashes and the black walnuts and the elms and the oaks. Don and I sometimes consider counting all the trees on this property. We have a lot of trees. And here’s a question: if one counts the trees, are saplings part of the count? Or just fully grown adult trees?

Where does one draw the line?

The other day, I was once again wrangling with the brambles (you can see the evidence of the battle on my hands) and was clearing some from an area near the woods. As I cleared out a bunch of the stuff that had been strangling some bushes, I noticed a young tree with blossoms on it.

dogwood

Hold on there…we have a little dogwood tree! I had no idea! It’s sort of blocked by another tree and unless I’m right down there in the thick of things, I can’t see it. It’s so pretty!

There are always surprises on this property.

Thursday was a bit hard for me as the mail arrived and I saw an envelope from my dad. I knew it was coming, but I realize now that I really wasn’t prepared to see Mom’s death certificate.

What can I say? It’s so final.

More tears.

I’m off to explore what’s happening out in the gardens.

By the way, a book I recently reviewed and loved, The Moon Sisters, is on sale right now (eBook/Kindle version) on Amazon for $1.99 through May 25th. That’s a great deal for a wonderful book! If you missed the review, you can find it here. So if you didn’t win the giveaway and have it on your list of books to read (and if you use eBooks) hop on over and buy it!

Happy Saturday.

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Let’s Take A Walk

May 14, 2014 at 8:36 am by Claudia

Let’s take a little walk around the property and see what’s growing and blooming in this late-to-get-going Spring.

wwildhoneysuckle

The wild honeysuckle that grows all over this property is blooming, much to the delight of the bee population.

wbigshotofhydrangea

The climbing hydrangea that I planted about 6 years ago is taking over the shed. It’s supposed to start blooming after 4 or 5 years but nary a bloom has been sighted.

wclimbinghydrangea

Until now. I couldn’t believe my eyes. In fact, I had just finished a sentence that included the words, “I guess this will never bloom,” when I saw these. Only two, but who cares? A small victory.

wlilacs

The lilacs have bloomed. I walk over to that side of the driveway several times a day and inhale. What a glorious scent.

wfield

Our woods open up to this big field, which is owned by my fellow blogger Breida and her husband. I walk through our woods daily and always take a moment to stand and gaze out at this vista.

wwoodpile

To the left is the back of our neighbor’s property. He’s been busy stacking enough wood to last him through the apocalypse. Check out his beautiful lilac bush.

wwhiteflowerstree

This tree is on the edge of my other neighbor’s property, which also abuts Breida’s field. Isn’t it pretty?

wquince

The flowering quince is still blooming.

wtulips3

My delicate yellow tulips are open. These were planted long before we moved here, as were the daffodils and a couple of the hostas and sedum.

wedbiggardenbed

The big garden bed on April 30th.

Wgardenview

On May 7th.

wbiggardenbed3

And on May 13th. As you can see, the trees have really filled in, there’s green everywhere, and the perennials are much bigger.

I planted lots of morning glory seeds the other day, as well as zinnias. I haven’t filled my barrels or my galvanized planter with flowers yet – my budget is very, very tight – and I haven’t bought any hanging plants for the porch. Those things will have to wait a bit. Waaah! I want them now!

whihoparking

When my friend Heidi’s shop (which was called Hi Ho Home Market) closed, she gave me one of her signs, which we have placed in front of the birdbath – right where we park our car. Sort of perfect for the funky patio area, don’t you think? We love signs and if they can be used with a sense of humor, all the better.

wtowelsdh

I made some towels for the dollhouse bathroom by using baby washcloths, a tip I picked up somewhere on the Internet. I think they look neat but they’re too bulky at the moment. I’m going to trim them down a bit.

Today I have to mail off all the items I made for the swap. I spent most of yesterday morning wrapping each item and figuring out how to pack everything so that nothing is damaged. Can’t wait to see what everyone else has created!

Happy Wednesday.

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Birds & Squirrels & Bunnies & Chipmunks

May 10, 2014 at 8:49 am by Claudia

satprettyweed

This would technically be called a weed. But I call it a pretty flower. The yellow blooms are a welcome splash of color in the back forty.

Rain, rain, and more rain – that’s the weather report here in our neck of the woods. The trees have baby leaves, the plants in the gardens have shown their appreciation for all that rain by spreading, and growing taller and wider. Lush green is everywhere; in the grass, in the gardens, and on the trees. I love the spring green of the grass at this time of year.

satroseleaves

Hello, roses! Welcome back.

At one point in the day yesterday, there was a bunny rabbit near the birdbath cleaning himself, the chipmunk was a few feet away looking for food and a catbird was in the birdbath. All in about 4 square feet of space. I’ve seen robins and catbirds taking a dip in the birdbath and this morning I saw a squirrel taking a drink! That’s a first.

satbunnydriveway

This is the bunny rabbit I was talking about. He’s hanging out by our car in this photo. No, that’s not a snake. It’s a bean pod from the Catalpa tree. I’ve seen this same bunny hanging out in and around the silver maple tree that is right outside our kitchen window. In fact, I mentioned it to Don several times, wondering why he was always nestling himself down among the dry leaves that surround that tree. I noticed this over the course of about 3 days.

satbunnynearnest

There he is. I took this from inside the kitchen. You can see how close he is to the house. We clean up this area in the spring and I usually rake as many of the dead leaves up as I can, but there are still lots of them on the ground. That turns out to be a good thing because while we were making dinner last night, we watched this little one scurrying around. It took a while before we realized the rabbit was gathering material for a nest. The bunny would pull up some stuff from the ground, leap up this little hill, and then jump in the little hole. Its head would disappear inside the hole while the nest material was added and then it was back to gathering more material. The second arrow points to the nesting area.

We were mesmerized. And enchanted. Most of the bunnies on this property make their nests in the woods. This one, however, has decided to make a nest right outside our kitchen window!

I immediately thought about how careful I would have to be when mowing or weed wacking.

It’s actually a good place to make a nest because the leaves provide camouflage. The bunny rabbit blends right in.

Smart bunny rabbit.

Sometimes, when birds are in the birdbath and bunnies and chipmunks are running around, I feel like I’m in a Disney movie. All I need is some animation. But real life is much better than animation, don’t you think?

Happy Saturday.

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Rambling

Let’s Take A Walk

Birds & Squirrels & Bunnies & Chipmunks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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