Rainy Friday Morning

It is a misty, cool morning.
I am grateful for the rain and
the cool down.

I planted Fuchsia in the north window boxes.
I hung a large basket of Fuchsia on the porch. It is a lovely flower.
The Hummingbirds love it, me too.
It is early for planting out tropicals.
I was told our last danger of frost is now April 15th.
It has always been May 1st.
Climate change has come to my gardens to stay.

The Peonies are in tight bud.
The ants have arrived to help in their unfoldment.

                        I have been planting for the Hummingbirds.
                         They like Nicotiana.
                         I planted a dozen plants in the west window box.
                         I like seeing the hummers up close
                         while I sit at the kitchen table or stand at the sink.

The Crown Imperials are in bloom.
They are lovely and help to deter the moles from tunneling near them.
I would need to naturalize these bulbs all over the lawn and in all the flowers beds.
They only turn the moles aside to tunnel elsewhere.

  I planted strawberries for the wrens.
Hanging baskets make for nice nest spots
and sweet berries, close by for easy nibbling, while sitting on the eggs.

                                    I have been planting seeds this week.

and rescueing an old dress form left at the curb.
Her name is Annabelle.
She is cleaned up now and her base will get fresh paint.

These first two weeks of April have been too warm.

 I hope this cool down stays.

I have many cool season vegetables that are just now sprouting.

Many of the May flowers are blooming.

                                                      The native Columbine is in bloom.

The Rhododendron is in bloom

and the azaleas are in bud.

                  Dogwood blooms make nice umbrellas for tiny folk.

I started planting the deck boxes.

The large lavender pots are beginning to harden off on the porch

before they face the full southern sun.

Summer and Spring are colliding.

I need rainy days.

I need cool April showers.

Sunday Safari

The Dogwoods are in full bloom.

I wrote in my garden journal, "Dogwoods at peak bloom."

The Hairy Woodepeckers look like
very large Downy Woodpeckers.

There is a pair that come to the nut feeders.

The temperatures are unseasonably warm.

The tulips are at peak bloom too.

                                            I love the way the sun light shines through the petals.

I love the shadows.

There are many varieties of tulips in the gardens.

I plant daffodiles around them to protect them from the rabbits.

The white lilacs on the east side of the house
 are just beginning to open.

I knew by the scent that drifted around the house
to my perch on the south deck
 they were opening.

The French Lilacs are also just beginning to lure.

Spring is rushing in.

Lace wings have emerged.

Each day another bloom.

I have lots of work to do in the gardens.

I refreshed the Baltimore Oriole's nectar feeder.

Many of the fruit eating birds like grape jelly.

The Baltimore Orioles are very fond of it.

I want to be ready for when they arrive.

My neighbor came by.

She told me Hummingbirds were spotted in our area.

I filled the feeder.

Summer bird care is as involved as Winter.

The nesting boxes are still empty.
Wood Bees are checking them out.

The cardinals are rebonding.

I found another color of Wild Violet
in the back lawn.
There are five different colors now.

The dandelion roots have dried.
I will grind them for tea.
I see there are more dandelions in the yard to harvest.

The hawks are soaring.

Diane Arckerman is my new
favorite writer.

Reading her books has made me a better person.
I look forward to the next page.
I think we could be very good friends.
She likes bugs too.
Happy Sunday Safari.

Gifts

The forced bulbs from past winters
are blooming.

The pink tulips from December 2007, are just beginning to open.
I will poke the bulbs from this past winter into the flowers beds.
It will take a couple of years before they rebloom.

I plant the small bulbettes from divided bulbs.
They grow and after a few years they bloom.

I save the spent blossoms.
I make potpouri.

Years ago my friend gave me 50 forgotten tulip bulbs.

They were dug from where she worked one May

after they were finished blooming.

She put the bag of bulbs in her garage and forgot all about them

until the following Spring.

Thank goodness the greens were left on the bulbs.

Only six of them survived.

When I see these flowers I think of my friend.

The flax has sprouted!
This is so very exciting.
I made notes.

I am planning a Wild Violet festival for tomorrow.
It is for my husband and I.

I shall gather the wild violets.
I want to press some.

I will make violet candy and syrup.
We will have violets in our salad and nosegays for the tables.
I shall to try to make violet dye for my homespun yarn.

I grow the Wild Violets in my flower beds
as well as in the yard.

I will leave some for the bees.

These are Dandelion Days.
I have begun to harvest the flowers for my dye pot
and the roots for my tea chest.
Tender leaves are very nice in a stir fry or in a mixed green salad.
Some dandelions grow as a pot herb in my flower beds.
Some grow as naturalized wildflowers in the lawn.

The cabbage whites are flying

and mating.

These are busy April days.

Pop up thundershowers keep the gardens watered.

My friend sent me a card.

It was enclosed with the jacket I had left last Autumn in her car.

I forgot all about that jacket.

                                        I hung the Cicada Wings ornament in the Ficus Tree.

                                                       The Ficus Tree is my soul tree.
                                                                 She is my friend.
                                                               She is 35 years old.

Other ornaments hang in her branches,
gifts from friends.