Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring, Tra La

One of the great "bonus" discoveries I got the first spring I was in this house (I  moved in in October, lo these many years ago) was that there were a lot of my favorite flowers, shrubs, and trees already here. There are a few apple trees and a flowering crab apple, some very prickly wild-ish roses, and among other things, these lovely plants, all of which are flowering right now--quite the balm to my soul after a long bitter winter.

Peonies are one of my favorite flowers--I like them even better than roses.

I grow chives to eat, but they also have lovely blossoms which the bees love.

I have about 7-8 different lilacs, in a variety of colors. This is one of the later bloomers.

This little white rhododendron was hiding under some heavy pines in the front yard. When the trees got trimmed back a couple of years ago, the blooms appeared for the first time!

This is a huge rhododendron that guards the front entrance. It's a little bit of a show off.

Here is the little one in its niche. I'm working on a shade garden under here.

A white lilac, at the end of its bloom period.

 
 And as requested, a picture of the "necklace of the week" I posted on Facebook. This one is turquoise, black onyx, and coral--a combination favored by many of the Native American tribes, which I love too.

I hope something lovely is blooming in your yard or in your life. Let me know if there is!

9 comments:

  1. Absolutely lovely! I love the abundance of flowers in spring. Those peonies are a beautiful shade. And that necklace is gorgeous too. But then turquoise is my birthstone.

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    1. I have white peonies too, but they're not blooming yet :-) And after the long upstate NY winter, I always appreciate the color and sheer joy of the flowers in my yard. My birthstone is a diamond. Yawn.

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  2. My flowers really took a beating from our extra-long, extra-cold winter and have been slow to start, but my Japanese honeysuckle is blooming rampage and everything else is starting to wake. YAY!

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  3. My mother had to have a stone wall rebuilt at her home in western PA this year and lost her rhododendron that was more than 50 years old. It was just like your show off guardian one. And I used to have lilacs and crab apples as well as a weeping cherry when I lived near Cincinnati. And I remember my mother's peonies when I was growing up. Do you have dogwoods? We had them in PA and in Ohio. I miss the shrubs and trees of years past.

    Now I have palm trees and a wonderful twenty seven year old gardenia that began blooming at the beginning of May and is still blooming. It smells heavenly.

    Thanks for a horticultural trip down memory lane.

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    1. You're welcome--thanks for sharing those memories with us!

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  4. Wow. Lilacs are my absolute favorite. I miss them. Lucky you!

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    1. Yes, but you have a swimming pool :-)

      Lilacs are among my favs too. I was really pleased to discover them all over the yard when that first spring came.

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  5. Trying to have a yard as beautiful as yours, in northern Ontario still struggling. I have your book "witches with brooms" and after I read, I would love to pass it on to my author friend for her yearly " Witches in Fiction" on Facebook., with your blessing of course. I have sang your praises to my Wiccan friends and passing your book on would be wonderful! First I would love for you to know this.
    My friend is Magaly Guerrero pls. Visit ! I'm a fan for quite awhile now! I love your poetry. Blessings! xoDebi

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  6. Gardening is a struggle here too, Debi. I'm in Zone 4, which makes growing many perennials difficult or impossible (lavender, for instance, which is one of my favorites).

    You are always welcome to pass on any of my books--hey, you bought them! Besides, I love it when people spread the word :-) Of course, that book is nonfiction, not fiction, so your friend might be better off waiting until the Baba Yaga books are out.

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