April Showers 29, Sunshine and Flowers 1

I know that March has the reputation for coming in like a lion and going out like a lamb. I have to say this year April has been a bear. Finally on the very last day, we got an entire day of sunshine. The flowers were as relieved as I was. Today was the grand opening for these spring beauties. Last fall Ed moved them from the back woods into the shade garden so I can access them more easily. It was a thrill to see them come up and flower!

A very favorite thing is gazing up through a tree's lovely white blossoms to admire the blue sky. Magnolia trees are nice for this, but a flowering serviceberry, also know locally as shadbush, works just fine. These white flowered trees dot the woods in this area and are usually the first flowering trees to be seen in the spring.

My grape hyacinths that have been closed up tight are now open , just waiting for welcome visitors. Mr. hummingbird take note!

I saved the very best for last. Our newly rediscovered trailing arbutus flowers are open . The fragrance of this plant wafting in the breeze brings back pleasant memories from my childhood. Even the aroma of cow manure from the fields next door mixing in, can't dampen my enthusiasm. I managed to get down to the ground to inhale its fragrance. There's nothing quite like it!

We're Hummingbird Ready

The grape hyacinths are blooming, and the clove currants, Ribes oderatum, are beginning to bloom. These two flowers are where my first spring hummingbird sightings usually happen. So far there has been no familiar buzzing in my ears. I suspect this year these flowers are just a little early. Last year they were blooming on May 5. There's still time . These flowers will bloom for awhile. The clove currants have only a few open flowers. Their incredible fragrance does not yet fill the garden but it surrounds the plants. I can still hope for the hummers!

Bluebird House Hunting

Yesterday we got our first rain for the month of March. It's been awhile since I have smelled the rain, or is it the worms? I have to be honest after so many beautiful sunny days working in the garden, I was ready for some rain. The robins were happy. They were all over the garden looking for worms. The plants look happy too. The plant growing in my new pet stone seems to have loved the rain. I didn't think it could be a wall stone, but Ed made a nice place for it in the top of the shade garden wall. I also got my first bug bite of the season that gave me enough of a reaction to send me looking for the Benedril.




The bulbs are responding to the rain. This giant glory of the snow was hardly visible two days ago, and it will bloom soon if the weather holds. The bluebird houses that can be seen out the kitchen window had their first bluebird visitors this morning. He perched on the box on the left, and she perched on the box on the right. I hope they get it all worked out before the tree swallows arrive. Their appearance is just 4 days earlier than last year. There were other spring sightings while we were out this morning. We saw a blue heron, the river is high and running brown,and we had to drive 5 miles an hour behind not one, but two manure spreaders. Starlings, cowbirds, tricolor blackbirds have all made their first visit here. The garden is coming alive!

Grape Hyacinth

The flowers are still buds, but I always love to see these bloom in the spring. Not always, but sometimes, I see my first hummingbird of the season on the grape hyacinths. I have a real thing for hummingbirds, butterflies, and hummingbird moths.

The other bulbs are growing nicely too . They are indeed rewarding plants for a gardener in the spring. I'm sure it is no small coincidence that two catalogs for spring bulbs to be ordered for next fall, came today. I've been looking at the pictures, so far my sales resistance is holding, but there's nothing like beautiful spring flowers to loosen up a gardener's credit card.