Hummingbirds!!!

Last Saturday, my younger daughter and I were sitting out at my table and chairs under the tree and she whispered, look up.  I looked and there was a hummingbird sitting in the tree!!!  I've never seen a hummingbird this early!  I usually see them starting about the middle of May.  The next day, Sunday, my daughter and I were looking out on the deck and a different hummingbird was checking out my native honeysuckle vine.  The vine has buds on it but no blooms yet.  Apparently, the hummingbird was looking to see if there were any flowers for it to eat from.  

 

Since there were obviously hummingbirds here,  I pulled out my hummingbird feeder and filled it and put it out.  I took Monday off from work and at one point I was sitting at my table and a little hummingbird came to my feeder!  Another hummingbird came and sat in the tree and then chased the little one away.  But then the little one came back.  I haven't been home and outside this week to see hummingbirds anymore, but I sure did like to see them those three days!

 

Have a beautiful day!

Princess...

We have a white cat.  Or, more correctly, a white cat lives at our house. Her name is Princess.  We got her when she was a kitten, about nine years ago, but she has never been tame enough to pet.  However, this is her home and we feed her.  She'll come hang out with me when I am in the garden, but she won't let us touch her.  Here she is, taking a nap on the deck with my blue pots and yellow Johnnies.

(The "etching" that you in the glass of the sliding glass doors is actually white paint, stenciled on so the birds that I feed right outside don't fly into the glass.)

 
Have a beautiful day!

A spring day...

Finally!  The Tulip Poplar trees are getting their leaves.  This is such a welcome sight!

 My chickie dudes like the spring day, too.   Here they are, back in their pen ~ for safety.  But earlier, they got to wander around the yard, scratching and pecking.  Yes, they are hens, but I still call them my dudes.

 Daffodils!  So sunny and cheerful.  I didn't realize that I had a white one.

A Muscari has seeded itself at the edge of the stone path.   Isn't that how we are sometimes?  Trying to grow in a difficult, "rocky" place?

Another brave little plant growing in the rocks.  A reseeded Johnnie.

The blooms on this Veronica are tiny, but oh, so beautiful.   I love the blueness of them.

These are Tete a Tete Daffodils that I planted in the fall.  I think they are so charming.

Have a beautiful day!

More Spring....

Overall, it still looks pretty dreary out there in my garden.  But there are a few plants that are bravely making their way and sharing their beauty.

The flowering plum is covered with blossoms.  It will get its purple leaves later.   That is a close-up of its blooms above.

It grows next to - way too close to - a holly that will bloom later.  The forsythia bush is also there.  Think how pretty this would all look if the forsythia was well pruned and in full bloom with periwinkle in full bloom beneath it.  And daffodils to boot.  There is always hope...

Speaking of daffodils... There are several different kinds of daffodils here and there in my yard.  None in abundance this year, though.  This beauty was looking down ~ maybe because it is raining.

The beautiful blue hyacinths are still blooming.

My daphne bushes don't look all that great; the winter has been hard on them.  But they are blooming.  They smell like heaven.  Daphne are notoriously difficult and short-lived so I am pleased to have had mine for so long.

It appeared as though maybe my variegated hydrangea hadn't made it through the winter.  But that is ~ thankfully ~ not the case.

And my rose bushes are starting to show their new leaves.   This is New Dawn, my climbing rose.

Such charming muscari...   I love this picture.

A pot full of Johnnies on the corner of my deck. 

Oh, wonderful, unabashedly cheerful Johnnies.

Have a beautiful day!

Spring!!!

Spring officially arrived earlier this week.  On Thursday, March 20th, to be more specific.  At 12:58 in the afternoon, to be exact.  And, so far, the weather has co-operated and been pleasantly mild since Spring began.  It's been a tough winter here this year.  I can tell my plants have suffered.  Some may not make it.  And others show damage from the cold.

My forsythia has blooms on it.  The harbinger of Spring.  The plant itself looks pretty sad, but at least there are some clusters of bright yellow.

Every year I tell myself that I am going to transplant the periwinkle so it will grow under the forsythia.  They bloom about the same time and the blue and yellow together would be so charming.   Maybe this is the year...

My camellia bush is blooming.  I hate to say things like this, but it doesn't really look very good.  The fungus that attacks camellias is having a heyday with my bush.   This flower looks okay, though.  I have fond memories of picking camellias when I was a little girl.

My blue hyacinths smell so good!  And, of course, the color is incredible!  I love having them in my garden.

Some of my muscaris are are blooming.   They aren't doing well this year.  I don't know if part of it has to do with the wicked winter.  I do know part of it has to do with the deer.   My neighbor doesn't have his dog any more and the deer have decided that my garden is a lovely place to eat.  And, guess what...  They seem to really like my muscaris.  If you look, you can see the chomped leaves.

I bought this hellebore as a tiny seedling at a Cooperative Extension garden sale probably about five years ago.   This is the first year it has bloomed!  I'm so excited!  I love the pale pink and pale green tints in it.   Several weeks ago, the deer had eaten its leaves, but thankfully they haven't discovered the flower yet.  And I think there is another bud on it, too.

Have a beautiful day!

Yes, Spring is coming...

About this time of year, I start to think that Spring will never come again.  Maybe that's why there are crocus ~ to remind me that, yes, there is hope.  These yellow crocus are starting to close up for the evening.  They are growing in a tub near the lavender crocus I blogged about in the last post.

Today I found my first daffodils of the year.  These are short Tete a Tete daffodils.  So cute!  So charming!

And Muscari!!!  You know I am excited about seeing these blooms!

A lovely yellow Johnnie for you.

 Have a beautiful day!

Hello, again...

Well, it's been awhile, hasn't it? 

 I've been desperate for spring and look what I found today!

 These crocus are growing in a low tub underneath some trees.

 And soon there will be more.

 Have a beautiful day!