Garden Colors

Song - Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls (Kina Grannis Cover)

The first round of roses are blooming and the very first one was this beauty above.  I don't even know the name because it was one of the few plants that we kept when we bought our home 20 years ago. In honor of the woman who built and lived in this house for about 45 years, I have nicknamed it "Nancy's Rose". 

The main plants that are blooming right now are the bearded Iris.....

And the Wisteria.....oh my.....

If you walk anywhere near this Wisteria you will hear the hum of big ol' fat black bees and get knocked over by the aroma from the flowers.

The Dogwood trees are loaded with blossoms.....

....as are my three white Lilac bushes.

And if you look closer.....

The Lady apple trees are making me and the honey bees happy.

 The little Japanese Iris in the woodland garden loved all of our winter rain!

 

Even the Foxgloves are preparing to bloom.

Our side garden has once again become my meditation place after we brought back 

our lawn for our son and sweet daughter-in-law's wedding last Fall.

Mama Dove and Papa Dove are enjoying the new nesting box under our eves.

Last night Papa showed up one hour early to relieve Mama.  

True Love.

I find that my day is not complete without a morning & early evening walk around our garden to see what's blooming, growing, changing, hatching, in need of pruning, etc. each and every day!

"Nothing in nature blooms all year.  

Be patient with yourself." -- Unknown

 

Spring is in the Air

Song -  The Green Green Grass of Home by Joan Baez

Five days ago mama Mourning Dove was sitting on the nest with out any evidence of  babies.

Then this morning, guess who showed up? She was in the nest alone because I think mama was out getting something to eat. I'm going to name her 'lil Debbie Dove.

The Spring garden is full of life.  

The Dogwoods are in full bloom in the shade garden.

The lettuce that Tyler planted last fall is yielding some beautiful plants just ready for eating.

Freesia is bloom in both the front yard and back yard.

The Wisteria is full of blooms and happy bees!

Roses are just starting to burst into bloom.

Hosta's are emerging from their winter sleep.

Dogwoods up close.

 Soloman's Seal fills in the base of the shade garden

Camelia's are just finishing up their blooms.  This plant was left from the original owners of our house and it produces non-stop!  I call them Nancy's blooms.  Maybe 'lil Debby Dove will fly over to Nancy's blooms one day soon?

 Our lovely apple tree is filled with these soft pink blooms.  One of my favorites!

 And of course our lawn is filled, filled, filled with Dandelions.  They remind me of childhood and blowing a wish. 

 Bearded Iris - fist blooms!

 I forget what this ground cover is called but don't these flowers look like they are having a conversation?  And maybe one is sticking his tongue out at the other?

 Even the Japanese Maples are happy that it is Spring!

And here is my little buddy Mika who was walking around the garden with me but then got tangled up in the lemon trees.


"If life gives you lemons, don't settle for simply making lemonade - make a glorious scene at a lemonade stand." -- Elizabeth Gilbert

The Good Life

Song - Serenading the Cattle with Royals

On Sunday Mr. B and I took a drive to an iris farm up north.  On the way I spotted a herd of Texas Longhorns and boy were their horns long.  This guy in the photo above must of had horns about 6 feet across from tip to tip.

When he walked, he seemed to have trouble lifting his head up and balancing them.  So, with head down, he wobbled those mighty horns to a different side of the pasture.

Arriving at the Iris Farm, we were met with fields of beautiful color.

It turned out to be a beautiful day at the iris farm.

So many to choose from.  Mr. B teased me that we should open our gardens for visitors who are looking to buy iris plants.

I mean, can you ever have too many iris?  Really???

As I was checking off my list of which plants to purchase, I noticed several families of Hmong people enjoying the beauty of these gardens.  They kept taking photos of each other in front of the flowers.  One elderly couple were having their photo taken but the man kept tickling the woman's cheek with his tongue and she would erupt in a fit of giggles.  She was missing several teeth but had a grin from ear to ear and boy did her eyes sparkle!

The women's outfits had silver coins all over them and when they walked, they jingled.

The above photo reminds me of Vincent van Gogh's painting "Irises"1889, with the one white one in the bunch.

Hmong Proverb -

Hlais nqaij ntshaw zoo riam,

Ua neej nyob ntshaw zoo pojniam.

To slice meat, you need a good knife;

To have a good life, you need a good wife.