Springtime ! !

So far this has been a long and cool Spring. There are still a few daffodils blooming and the migrating birds have decided to stay in our gardens for weeks. Here are some of the most colorful.

The petite Indigo Buntings and graceful Catbirds.

A couple of pairs of Scarlet Tanagers - what a fantastic color combination.

And the Baltimore Orioles - all kinds of them. I wish I had a camera with better zoom because these pictures don't do justice to these lovely creatures. And what they all love to eat is cheap grape jelly! We've gone through jars of it, filling the empty orange halves.

Apple Blossoms on an old tree that has only a few limbs left. Each year another part of it dies and I had my doubts that it would bloom again. But, the little bit that is left is gorgeous!

The harbingers of Spring! I didn't plant any of these and they have been here for ages. Most of the lilacs are the size of small trees and are mixed in with all sorts of other trees and shrubs. They also smell great but are nearly overpowered by:

The half acre of Lily-of-the-Valley. The scent is so strong that sometimes I get a sick headache if the wind is just right and I'm working in the Vegetable garden nearby.

These flowers are some that you wouldn't normally notice. They are tiny Barberry flowers and smell wonderful. The color contrast is very pleasing.

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Remember last Fall I'd purchased grapes and berry plants only to find out via the Internet that they weren't hardy in my Zone 5? I planted them anyway and am so pleased that all of them survived the winter. There are 3 types of grapes and a thornless blackberry.

The grapes are growing very slowly and I can't imagine that they will become mature enough to bare fruit by the end of the season. But I know absolutely nothing about growing grapes, so I'm going to let nature takes it's course.

The Thornless Blackberry is coming a long really well and I have a feeling it will have to be "managed" closely.

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This weird collage was my way of laying out a planting scheme for some daylilies and lilies

that I'd ordered on a whim in late winter. As usual, I'd no idea where they would go but decided on the lower tier of the vegetable garden. They are all mostly pink or close to it because they were in a special Siloam collection. Siloam is the name of a lily breeding company which has bred many of it flowers to sport darker "eyes".

I got the idea to cut the pictures out of the Gilbert Wilde catalogue, separated them according to height - the four pictures go into the top box of the garden - and made a pleasing design. I don't think the yellow colors would go well with the pinks so they, and the very dark purple daylily were put up near the rock wall.

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The green onions look great!

These showed up on an old compost heap. I planted these parrot tulips in the Main Garden ten or twelve years ago and thought they died out! I have no idea how they got way over to the other side of the yard. But aren't they pretty!

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All three of these plants are in the mint family. The first is Catmint, the second is Lamium "Yellow Archangel" and the last is the dreaded "Creeping Jenny". That's what I call it but I'm sure it goes by lots of other names - some that are unprintable!

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My Spring Viola show. They are so cheerful after this long winter.

Here's Thea licking Garm's face and Garm saying "Get this goofball away from me, Mom! She's driving me crazy!" Thea had her checkup today and was a pretty good girl and tomorrow is Garm's turn. Thea is on a diet now and has to lose 5 pounds and in a few weeks has to go in to have her teeth cleaned and a loose one pulled. A yearly checkup with lab work, etc. can sure add up. And the dental visit will cost quite a bit so we are going to use our "stimulus" checks on the pugs. I can't think of a better use for them!

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A few more plants I got at the garden center:

A blue (annual around here) Salvia, and some pretty petunias,

white Impatiens for Steve's planting area and Pony Tail Grass.

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It is still very cool here in the evenings and I don't want to plant the Impatiens or Coleus just yet, but this upcoming four-day holiday weekend I'll get most of my containers done and maybe go on a Family Outing. I'm surely looking forward to the time off!

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If all the year were playing holidays,

To sport would be as tedious as to work,

But when they seldom come, they wished for come.

William Shakespeare - Henry IV, Part 1

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Bye for now,

Alyssa