21 March 2015

(Official) Spring in the Garden

The last day, of the strange yet wonderful winter of 2015, found my best friend and I toiling away in the garden and after months of virtual neglect we had much to do! During the 4 hours we worked we pulled out blackberry vines that seem to LOVE all rural PNW gardens, removed some of the naughtier, most unruly running bamboo and we weeded, raked and watched the burn pile grow.
 
A lot done and there's a LOT more to do!
Somehow though it seemed quite pleasant working under a blue sky and temps
 that seemed more like early summer or late spring than winter.
 
Of course there's a lot of blooming going on right now because of our VERY abnormal winter temps.
the sunny yellow blooms of forsythia, daffodils and Oregon grape,
the lovely white of a magnolia, pieris, other daffodils and many fruit trees,
the always pretty pink blossoms of one of our bleeding hearts and azaleas,
and the unexpected small blue blossoms of the brunnera and light purple of the rosemary.
 
The blueberries and evergreen huckleberries are in bloom as is our most lovely native kinnikinnick. In the bud stage is one peach colored rose and there are buds not quite showing color yet on some of the other roses. Our prairiefire crabapple's buds are right on the verge of opening and yesterday I noticed that our one and only beloved trillium has emerged from the ground (yippee), as has it's nearby neighbor, a hosta. Some of these plants are about a month ahead of schedule I think and others are pretty much on time or a bit early. Our forecast is calling for cooler temperatures for a few days and rain (yea, yea, yea) so maybe things will slow down.

Well I should be in bed (or doing the dishes my hubby, who just came out for an early morning snack, says) but I am, as usual, not tired yet so I'll share some photos...be forewarned the lighting was not the best and I still had on my zoom lens from our last trip with Small One. Anyway here goes!

 
Oregon Grape

 
Resident toad who offered to pose for a picture--
ok he didn't offer and I took much more than one picture :)

 
Camellia--a japonica
 (our camellia sasanqua finally decided to stop blooming after some 5 months of color)

 
Fruit tree blossoms
(I think this is one of our pears)
 
 
Pieris
(borrowed from a post I made 2 years ago. One can only take so much bad lighting you know. LOL)
 
 
 
Brunnera Jack Frost
(also borrowed from an older post.
 I love the leaves and forget-me-not type flowers on these shade loving plants).
 
Oh my! There's the most wonderful violinist playing on TV right now.
Dreamy...
I have thought for the longest time that the violin most closely matches the melody of my heart--
well at least the sadder tunes.
I think the flute captures the peaceful, happier tunes.
 
What instrument would you say is most like the melody of your heart?
 
Well I guess I'd best get to sleep as I am officially exhausted now.
 
Blessings + Happy Spring (or Autumn) to you!
Aimee 
 
A favorite couple of verses for your springtime...
(even if it's not Wednesday)
 
For, lo, the winter is past,
the rain is over and gone;
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 2:11-12
 

9 comments:

Linda W. said...

Nice photos of all the flowers. Isn't it crazy how early things are blooming? I really like your photo of the frog. How did you get him to look so blue? It's really a cool effect.

Teresa Kasner said...

I'd love to master the Irish tunes on a penny whistle, and the harp and the fiddle.. but I'm a master of none. Where did you find a blue frog? :-) Our trilliums are up and I have rose buds.. love it. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

Gracie Saylor said...

Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos, Aimee, and cheers for your gardening efforts! So far I am best at growing weeds :-) Blessings! xx

aimee said...

@Linda~
Thanks! Yes, it really is crazy. I don't recall another winter like this one we just had. Yikes! He is quite blue isn't he? LOL. I am not sure--it could have had to do with the way my camera interpreted the lighting and such at that time of day. Or perhaps when editing, I played just a bit too much with the different options. Or maybe, just maybe, I have happened upon a as yet undiscovered new toad species :)
Blessings, Aimee
PS: I checked the original photo and it's most likely the camera.

@Teresa~
That would be awesome!! LOL--see comment above :) Totally cool about your trilliums and rose buds! I wish my trilliums would multiply the way my daffodils have:)
Blessings,
Aimee

@Gracie~
You are welcome! I am talented at growing weeds too--lots of them:)
Blessings,
Aimee

Betsy said...

Gorgeous pictures Aimee! I'm very ready for spring and happy it's here although our winter was the mildest I can ever remember. Today, my husband and I went out to the trailer and opened it up for spring. None of the outside work is done and won't be for another month or so, but we can go out and spend the night now. The slides are out, the water hooked up, the bed is made. I'm so ready.
But....first we need to do our spring work at home too.
Blessings,
Betsy

aimee said...

@Betsy~
TY! I hear you--it's been a really awesome winter! YEA lake time coming up soon--I look forward to seeing more pretty pictures from there!
Blessings + good luck with your tasks:)
Aimee

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Happy happy spring my dear! Your delicate blossoming branch and the daphne (I think that's in the post below) are making me homesick. I can almost pick up the fragrance from your lovely photos. Lovely spring blogposts. I'm a little bit envious but mostly grateful for the sweet memories! Thanks.

Grandmabeckyl.blogspot said...

I looked out this afternoon and my lilac bush is showing color already. Daughter's first day at tulip farm was Fri and 30% of field is blooming. I plan to go friday p.m. and shoot some tulips with camera. A violin plays my heart's melody and Melody is my granddaughter's name,too. She is my favorite song. I have trouble with blackberries on our property. Since I bought a telescoping pruner, I hope I can keep them under control. Spray again as well. Take care and have a blessed week!! :~] Becky

aimee said...

@Sallie~
You are very welcome:) Happy I could bring back some good memories for you! The weather has changed and spring is on hold till Thursday. Come then though it's back to sun and tee shirts!
Wishing you a very happy spring too and many bouquets of fragrant flowers!
Aimee

@Becky~
That is awesome! Do you like lilacs as much as I do? Love their fragrance. Mmm. I sure would like to visit the gardens again (tulip farm)...it is such a pretty place and everyone is so nice! Ahh---I love what you said about your granddaughter! So sweet:) LOL -- I promise to empathize with you when you are dealing with those nasty, tenacious blackberry vines if you can send some empathy my way too! I just found more. Ugh.
Wishing you blessings!
Aimee

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