01 May 2012

May 1 and sunshine (today, anyway)


Today the yard finally got mowed, raked, aerated and fertilized! Between schedules and the weather, this has been a while coming. But today is glorious!  It is sunny, a bit breezy, and a warm 14 Celsius (or so), and it is my hubby's birthday!  Half a century today! He's going to love knowing that I posted that here!  ;)

Here are a few shots showing the progress, albeit slow, in the garden.  Hope your day is as beautiful as this!

The tulip actually has a bud on it.  Yes, I did say 'the', meaning singular.  Sadly, it is the only one to have come up.  The Carpathian Bellflower is becoming a nice green mound and the peonies are bursting forth from the ground. 



I've been meaning to get out in the yard and photograph its progress but I wanted the grass to be cleaned up first.  Now, finally, it feels done and ready for spring.  In the photo to the left, you can see some of the many buds the rhododendron PJM is sporting.  I was looking back through my posts and noted that in 2010 it flowered in time for Mother's Day, last year it was a little later, by about a week, when it was opening its buds.  It'll be interesting to see when it opens this year considering the extremely mild winter we just had in comparison to the harsh, cold winter we endured the previous year.  It's good to know the PJM Rhododendron is so resilient!


The trees, the Tolleson's Weeping Birch to the left and Schubert Chokecherry to the right are both budding.  Just a few more days like today, and they'll be cloaked in greenery.  I am a bit jealous, though.  We were in Southern Alberta for my nephew's wedding on the weekend and the plum trees were flowering, tulips were up and some flowering, and the trees were in an advanced stage of leafing out!  Grass was so green! Even though it was cold and blustery, I succumbed to some moments of envy.  Sigh.  




The forsythia (left) is forming flower buds and the leaf buds are swelling, while the Renaissance Spirea (Bridal Wreath Spirea), above, is beginning to leaf out.













From the Golden Dwarf Japanese Barberry on the left to the Nana and Rose Glow on the right above, the barberries did great through another winter.  These are all zone four plants, like the rhododendron above, and have done extremely well through several winters here in zone 3 Alberta.


I am so glad to see the Columbine coming up again.  There are even a few little seedlings poking through alongside this mother plant.  I planted the original plant in soil a few feet ahead of this one and allowed it to go to seed.  This is the result and it happily comes back year after year in the gravel beneath the deck.


While down south, my mom gave me a lovely little Shamrock plant.  My step-dad tried to sell me on two identical plants, but one is enough considering they are sharing table room in the dining area with two hydrangeas and a poinsettia.  Every March 17th, particularly when I was working at the greenhouse, I looked at the little shamrock plants in admiration but I never did buy one.  Happily, now, this little guy has joined our family.


It is a glorious day here!  Happy May 1st everyone!!



What's happening in your garden?





2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your style is really unique in comparison to other people I've read stuff from. Many thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I'll
just book mark this web site.
Feel free to surf my web blog : my article submitter

Anonymous said...

Hi, all is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing information, that's truly excellent, keep up writing.


My website :: Rattan Garden Furniture Uk

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...