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April Flowers
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I know it’s supposed to be “April showers bring May Flowers” but things always seem to be a little early in our neck of the woods. In this climate, it’s more like “March showers bring April flowers … and May flowers …” and by then our rains have disappeared for the next 6 months and the summer irrigation season takes over and I’m crawling around on my hands and knees fixing drip irrigation problems and cursing every new plant that Butterfly sticks in the ground and I think I’ll stop this run-on sentence now.
I have this drop-dead gorgeous clematis planted on an arbor over some steps that come off of our deck.
What is there not to love about clematis, no matter the color? And might I remind you that even the seed pod that is left after the flowers are gone is quite a sight to behold. Rest assured you’ll be seeing those in a future blog.
This is what happens when you roll around on the ground with your camera after you’ve put the horses in the pasture for their dinner. Annie, the fat one, the one who requires that they be locked in the fat farm all day and only are allowed on green grass for 2 hours a day, wouldn’t care if I was a nuclear bomb rolling around. She’s not about to lift her muzzle from food. Gem, the skinny one, is preparing to bolt, just in case I explode.
Poor Gem. I really shouldn’t tease her like this. She doesn’t even really belong to me. The sweet ol’ thing came here to retire, and keep my fat ol’ mare company. The have a love/hate relationship. When they’re together, they squeal and kick at each other (Gem is top dog). When they’re apart, they whinny and neigh and holler for each other like it’s nobody’s business. I wish they’d just kiss and make up.
Just about everyone has a lilac bush, but do you have a white lilac? They’re a pleasant surprise and smell just as good.
This is a beautiful old bush, and I mean “old” in the sense that it was a plant that my grandmother loved. Butterfly keeps making new plants from cuttings, because we have never seen one in a nursery (and yes, we ask, we show them the plant and they still do not know of which we speak). She gives her babies away (the ones, that is, that don’t get planted around here) to keep propagating this beautiful “different” lilac. It is so delicate and feathery; a lovely addition to anyone’s garden.
In keeping with our purple theme, a sure-fire way to dress up your homely fence is to plant a wisteria. Just make sure the fence is strong enough to support it, because wisterias get huge and will probably out-live you.
Butterfly loves camellias. I should probably do one entire blog with photos of just camellias, to make her happy. She has every color and variation. I think she likes them because they are an early-in-the-season bloomer, so even while it’s still cold and dreary out, the camellia is starting to show its color and lasts for a good long while.
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aerial view of a Japanese maple
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Another favorite of Butterfly’s, and mine, is the Japanese maple. We’re a bit particular, however, and always prefer a lace-leaf if we have a choice.
I think the color of this one is downright yummy
This is a view looking up the walk to Butterfly’s house. The white bush in the center is a lorapetulum. It’s a very popular bush right now, but you hardly ever see it in white. The current rage is a ruby color. You can see the two Japanese maples on either side.
This Japanese maple lives at my house. The poor little guy has had a rough life. It started out at Butterfly’s house, but she swapped it for one at my house in a different location because hers wanted more sun and mine wanted more shade. We determined that my location was still too sunny for the tree I ended up with. On top of that, it got some sort of borer in its main trunk (this was diagnosed by Butterfly), so she took her loppers to him and performed emergency surgery. So not only was the poor tree transplanted twice, but he was almost turned into a bonsai! It seems to be thriving in its current location, in its current form.
By the way, those are daylilies starting to do their thing beneath the Japanese maple.
Why does such a beautiful flower face the ground? This plant has been here for years and is out-doing itself, which is just great. Except that it’s planted right next to our garbage/recycle cans.
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Barney appreciates a pretty flower
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I promise to never lie to you, but this is just a little white lie. The bulbs were actually at their prime in March, not April, so this picture is a few weeks old.
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Even Hellan thinks they're delicious
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The azaleas haven’t reached their peak yet, but I love where these two bushes have grown close to each other. I think the colors look yummy together.
This lives in a planter at Butterfly’s house and she has told me numerous times its name. This is exactly why it is no good to have a sieve for a brain. You’ll have to check back and read the “viewer comments” (click on them at the bottom of this page) to see what she says this plant is after she reads this blog. She always chimes in.
Calendulas are always a sight for sore eyes. I never buy them because they seem to just come up everywhere around here.
And last but never least …
Forget me not ...I’ll forget you not!
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