Beautification

The pear tree is alive and well.  New blossoms to greet a new season!

The workmen are alive and busy as well.  Phase 2 of a downtown beautification project.  Phase 1 was cleaning the old brick wall.  Next step?  Stay tuned.

Centaurea cyanus

 As I lay in recuperation this winter I dreamed of the "wild flower" garden I had worked so hard to renew and reseed last fall, so anxious to see the results.

I used a mix of perennials and annuals, so I expect no blossoms from the perennials until next season.  I watched the little plantlets come up this Spring.   I thought that many of them looked like what I call bachelor's buttons and what most folk call corn flowers.

Sure enough.  They grew quite rapidly and soon we had a wonderful "field" of blooms.  I was a bit concerned, though, for they are quite tall and I was afraid they would shade the tiny other stuff below.  But they seem to be progressing well now, so it is simply wait and see.  There are a few other smaller plants in blossom.

 Daisies back closer to the trees.

A little black bug on the pink flower.  Next to it an oriental lily which is in bud.

Pretty as the other flowers are there is also the ubiquitous dandelion.  It is a wild flower, too, you know.

May Flowers

Approaching mid-May, first blooms of the iris, the columbine, and the clematis-- shades of purple.

The variegated dogwood sporting its pink-and-white and sharing a space with its unidentified magenta friend.

Plum Pretty

The plum tree bringeth forth flowers yet produceth no fruit.

These are among the loveliest blossoms of all the flowering
trees in our yard.  Yet the tree is barren.  It was specifically
"designed" to provide spring color without the bother of a
messy fruit later on.

When the bloom is gone the tree will stand there by the
entryway, all red-faced as though apologizing for its lack
of produce.

Fall meets Spring

Who said we don't have any Spring flowers?

Yard to the west of ours.  Guess from which direction the

prevailing winds come.

 The catalpa holding on to last fall's fruit is putting 

forth new leaves!

Cycles

One year ago today *click*

Pretty much the same this year.

Waiting

Depart, Winter!  This is what we have been waiting for.  Lay in my hospital room dreaming of the day I could walk in the gardens and see greenery again.  Behold, the dream has come true.

 The naked ladies, aka the resurrection lilies have broken earth!

The iris are greening up, even the ones left lying atop the soil.

 What better sign of Spring?  Daffodils in bud.

I hope you enjoy Spring as much as I do.

It is a wondrous time of year.

     "The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle* is heard in our land;"  --Song of Solomon 2:12 (KJV)

*Many translations read "turtledove."

More Springtime Beauty

Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.  Psalm 40:5 KJV

The clover field behind the house.  Time to make hay.

 The iris have peaked and will soon be memories.

We used to call these flowers "flags."  Anyone

else remember that?

 The peonies always show up in time for Memorial Day.

The blooms are short-lived but magnificent.  Excellent 

as cut flowers, too.  A vase on the table brings loveliness 

into the house.

I had never heard these beauties called "pineys" until I 

moved to Indiana.  Say what?

The variegated dogwood is old now.  Lots of deadwood

had to be removed from the center and some serious

lopping for control.  Perhaps it will live a few

more seasons.

Kent and his mother admire the weigela which with

the hostas provide interest on the north side of the house.

 

Flora alone do not provide all the loveliness in

the yard.  I captured this lovely animal while 

working in the garden.  It crawled inside my shirt

sleeve.  Couldn't find it, thought perhaps it

had deserted me.  But no, after a bit I felt it

crawling atop my right ear.

The creature was returned to its habitat after

the photo session.

New Life

To offer something new amongst the recall, retreads, and retro things that have been appearing on String Too Short to Tie I present the pine blossom.

There is a lovely pine shrub in the front yard mound.  Each year it seems to cover a larger percentage of the allotted space though we do prune it in an attempt to keep it under control.

While the green of the long densely-massed needles is quite attractive, I like it best when it is in bloom, another of Spring's marvelous offerings.

I am well aware that living in a piney woods has its drawbacks.  Pine pollen all over everything is a major nuisance, and if one is allergic to the stuff it is beyond nuisance.  It is a dreaded and unwelcome intruder into that individual's life.

But we have little of it and I enjoy the beauty of the plant when it is in this stage of producing new life.

Blessings.

Trees in the Yard

flowering plum; weeping cherry; Bradford pear; crabapple; lilac

lilac; redbud; Macintosh; Northern magnolia from seventy feet away

and the cheery little footnote at my feet in the corner

2√2b²

Eight Day Wonder

The  Flowering Cherry Tree 2015

Top left: April 11

Top right: April 13

Bottom: April 19

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" --Ecclesiastes 3, set to music by Pete Seeger.

The pear tree begins her display!