Mother's Day Flowers, Photos by Amy

 
Mother's Day has often brought flowers my way.   A newly opened Easter lily greeted me first thing this morning.  I could see right away just looking out the window that this was going to be a beautiful day.

 The shade garden presented me with pink shooting stars.

The white ones are different, but I couldn't chose one over the other.

Clumps of little bluets are a favorite. I could never have too many of those.

This beautiful white trillium has just the barest blush of pink.  If it doesn't get too hot, I should have this one for awhile.

 Wild strawberries are blooming underfoot with berries soon to follow.

 The unopened buds of an autumn olive have such an interesting shape, but the first thing you notice about this shrub is its fragrance.  The scent floats on the wind  and you are surrounded by it before you even see the bush.

Today  the many  butterflies scattered among the flowers were delightful to see.

Meadow sage has been in the garden since the Mother's day that we visited Wildflower Island.  I got a pot of  society garlic  and one of  meadow sage that  day in 2002.  I still have one pot of society garlic, but meadow sage pops up all over the garden.

It's hard to believe that the huge barberry in the back meadow is still blooming. They flower their way to the end of the stem.  Later berries will replace the flowers.

Years ago  little hands picked  violets from the lawn just for me.  How I loved those Mother's Day flowers!

Sometimes dandelions were my Mother's Day flowers.  I loved those too.

Today we cut some of my narcissus to send home with Amy so that she could enjoy them.
I spent the day with my daughter and had a phone call from my son. Mother's Day 2012 was a joy!

May Flowers Between Showers

The white shooting stars, have incredibly short stems. Perhaps the are waiting for the sun to grow taller.

The pink shooting stars seem to be loving the rain.

My 'Jack Frost' Brunnera has beautiful little blue flowers, and such lovely leaves

Ed got a perfect shot of this bleeding heart. The weeds have not been pulled, but at least they are out of focus.

Between the attractive leaves and the lacy flowers this 'Sugar and Spice' Tiarella is a delight.

The Kathy Purdy's Narcissus are fragrant and attractive. Again the weeds are out of focus.

There are years when we think we have the upper hand in the garden. Things get planted on time. Weeds get pulled . For the most part the garden bends to our wishes. This is not one of those years. Mother Nature is in control and we are painfully aware of it. Everything is growing in response to the daily rain, especially the weeds and the lawn. We did get a little sun today. You'll have to excuse me now, I have wet garden clothes to launder.

Bulbs and Garden Friends

I arrived just a bit late with the camera. I wanted to get a picture of Ed planting bulbs. These are not just any bulbs. They came all the way from Buffalo. I didn't buy them there, although I have purchased bulbs in Buffalo in the distant past. These are the special kind of bulbs that are passed from one gardener to another. Bulbs with a history. These narcissus bulbs came from Kathy Purdy, a great blogger I met this July at the bloggers' convention. It's really her story, so click on her name to read it. I know this picture is mostly of dirt, and Ed's foot, but if you look closely you can see another friend in the picture.


A closer look reveals a Monarch chrysalis on the wire cage. Perhaps it is too late for this friend to become a butterfly. We left him undisturbed. Depending on the weather he may have his chance.

Later Ed and I watched as this woolly bear caterpillar tried to climb up out of the hole where Ed had been  standing. The dirt was loose and several times he tumbled back to the bottom of the hole. I confess I have had a thing for woolly bears since I was a child. They never fail to make me smile. I reached down and gently picked up my little garden friend, lifting him up to the lawn. He curled up in a tight ball as they always do. I guess I made him a bit tense, but I hope I helped him on his way to where ever he was going.