Saturday, May 5, 2012

Testing Week - 2012....

Glad that's over!  Everything seemed to run very smoothly.  My son attended his outside classes this week but we did not do school at home, save for some test prep to get him in the swing of things.  He tested on Wednesday and Thursday, but finished up early so that we did not have to go back on Friday.  I didn't have to work, either, so we got half a day off!

This has been the hottest April/May I can recall since we moved here almost fourteen years ago.  My spring flowers are all almost gone already in the heat, but here's a little look at what's going on in my garden:


Dwarf Bleeding Heart amongst my blue hostas....





Columbines in peach....



Coral Bells (Heuchera) - these are in the geranium family





A type of golden Coreopsis....





My blue clematis (love this one!) I have another one that takes less light, but it's not blooming quite yet....




Some of my early spring whites are still blooming, but as you can see (below), the phlox has almost burned up in the heat....



And these poor guys are pretty spent, too....




Here are some of my lovely Hellebores (Lenten Rose).  My favorites are these creamy whites which are green when they first open.  These shrubs are exceedingly slow growing, but they bloom here generally in March (February this year) and continue right through spring, then hold the blooms after they've dried intact on the stems for months.  They remind me very much of orchids.


These are the last of my wild Iris, which I transplanted from my home in Tennessee.  They are a far cry from the showy irises developed by breeders.  They are only about 3 inches high; tiny and delicate.  But when a large ground cover of them blooms in spring, the color is so clear it almost glows!


Another variety of ground geraniums beloved by me.  While most I buy are for their leaves, this one has a very orchid like flower with just a touch of pink in the center and I love them!  It spreads like a ground cover, too....

More Lenten Rose....


Now this geranium really is mostly for its leaves.  The spiky, foamy flowers are okay, I guess, but not my favorites....

My red buds have long blown and they've already put on thick mounds of seed pods this year.  Did you know you can eat the red buds while they are emerging and they are full of Vitamin C?  They make a nice, peppery addition to salads and are lovely, too!


My service berry is also full of berries this year and *I* plan to get some of them before the birds strip the tree!

...and the juniper is putting on its new growth and new cones for the year, too....





Johnny Jump-ups that seam a little straggly.  I don't think they're getting enough light....


That pretty much sums up what's happening in my yard right now.  I just picked a nice bunch of radishes for munching this week - my first produce from a tiny (about 3 x 3) garden plot.  We will be planting a community garden at our church this next week.  I wonder how things are going to fare in the coming heat....

Regena

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