Close up beauty!

I am so captivated by the beauty hidden within the center of a flower.  I have been taking close up photos of flowers for awhile and am amazed at the intricate architecture of each individual type of flower.  Enjoy mine and get out and investigate some of your own flowers!

Awesome hummingbird story!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7xBLvMIBZU

Mid~spring time moments~

                                            

Finally~ the weather is getting nicer and I am able to go wandering through my yard just to enjoy the beautiful mid~spring flowerings!  This photo is of a Nora Barlow Columbine.  It's not the typical type of columbine that have tail shooting out the back of the bloom, although if you look close enough ~ a few of them do.  I planted these last spring but the didn't bloom ~ they are making up for it this year.  I have 6 of them and they are all gorgeous.  What a great addition to my gardens!  We've had quite a bit of rain lately and the flowers are just loving it.  They seem to have doubled in size within a few days!  It's exciting to see all the buds on some of my plants ~ daisies, black-eyed Susan's, lilies, etc... in a week or so they are going to explode w/ blooms!    Most of my perennials seemed to have survived the intense winter.  I did lose two of my favorite broom shrubs :( 

I will have to search the local nurseries to try to find a new one.  I looked forward to it blooming every spring.  I replaced it with a Dwarf Alberta Spruce that my sister gave me.  It should look nice there in front of my dining room window ~ especially at Christmas time ~ well, maybe in a few years.  I'm glad the hard part of the gardening is finished (mulching, raking, tilling, etc...), now it's just maintenance!  They hummingbirds have maid their trip back home too!  

As for all my winterizing of plants...  my geraniums didn't make it but my dahlias are starting to peek through the ground.  I planted the tubers about 3 weeks ago, so far so good.   I planted my vegetable garden on Mother's day weekend.  I planted Swiss chard, 3 different types of lettuce, Brussels sprouts, green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes.  The Brussels sprouts are a first for me this year.  Anyone have any tips for their success? 

~ enough playing on the computer ~ time to go wandering through my yard and then relaxing on the patio watching the birds!!!  Hope you have a great week ahead!

Hugs,

Jeni

Busy weekend ~ had a 21st birthday party for my daughter!  I spent 6 hours power washing my deck ~ exhausting but well worth the effort.  I had no idea how bad it was until I started but now it looks almost new!!!   I  power washed my front porch and sidewalks today ~ I love that thing! I also sprayed Seven for bugs on my hostas, sprayed a fungicide to hopefully prevent rust on my Hollyhocks, sprinkled Snail/Slug repellent, etc... My son, "step-daughter" and I went for a walk this evening and I came across a pink Columbine growing randomly along the road ~ of course I had to dig it up and transplant it in one of my flowerbeds!  I was sickened by all the trash along the road, so when I got home, I grabbed a trash bag and my "picker-uppers" and went back to clean up the trash.  I just don't understand why people feel the need to throw their trash out along a road instead of waiting until they get home.  My grandmother wrote a poem about polluters a long time ago, I wish I could remember it.  I do remember it said something about  "don't be a polutatic" and  "did you ever see a muskrat wear a beer can for a hat"! She was probably smiling at me from above, watching me clean up the beer cans along the road!   I ended my evening with a quite night on my patio with a glass of wine, listening to the water trickle on my little fountain, the birds chirping and the frogs singing ~ very peaceful!