virginia & virginia bluebells

Today Aislinn & I drove to Reston, Virginia - far side of DC - to see about having an Irish dancing dress custom made. The flowers & the trees are just a bit further along down there than here - maybe by a week or so. It was gloriously full spring. As we approached home, though, we rolled down the windows & delighted in the sweet-smelling, fresh, un-urban air. Then the 2 of us walked & danced around the yard for more than 1/2 an hour, happy to be home, out in the wide-open space. And there in beautiful bloom was the patch of Virginia bluebells.

The Carolina silverbell is just starting to bloom....

Big change

It seems like my weather wishes have come true. Hard to believe it was a few short days ago I whined about wintry weather. I've spent the last 4 days gardening, & my heart is singing! (My back, on the other hand, is not delighted. I have to admit it's not as bad as I'd expected it would be ~ thanks to Jen & all that PT.) Yesterday was 82 degrees. I guess that average of 68-70 we're "supposed" to be having is just that -- an average between the winter we were having last week & the summer we're having now.

What a huge difference it has made in the garden. Last week the mid-season daffodils were looking pretty sad from the storm, & not much else was happening. Now, this!

These are some of the things blooming this week in the gardens. Mostly it's weeds this week in the gardens. I can only be out there so long, though, & then my back needs a break. Great excuse to post it all here.

Since I can no longer lift the mulch with the spading fork, I carry it little black tubful by little black tubful. Not very efficient, but it gets the job done.... Eventually...as in, by time it's time to start mulching next year.

We have the bluebirds back again this year. They're such fun to watch, & useful too: as I'm weeding or digging, I fill a dish with the grubs I run across (about 1000 per square inch, I think) & then plunk them down & watch the bluebirds eat 'em up. It is kind of icky watching them writhe around in the dish, but it beats the alternatives, which are nasty beetles or hand squishing. Eeeewwwwww! I check the boxes once in awhile, & no nest yet... but hopefully soon. The male is going in & out, but I think he's still trying to choose his real estate -- we have 2 boxes about 6 feet apart (Matthew made me 4, but so far we only have 2 up), so that if the tree swallows want one too, they don't compete with the bluebirds.

Here are a couple of last year's first brood -- kind of blurry, I know, but it's not easy to take a photo inside a box. This was taken in May, when they were 12 days old.

By the way, many thanks to Debbie for asking, "Do you take photos of your gardens?" which got me started doing just that, and to Ann for having such an inspiring blog that now I have a good spot for the photos. I'm sure it'll morph into much more -- kids, & life in general. It's a neat way to unload some of the stuff in my head when there's too much in there. Like Dumbledore & the Pensive.

Go away, Winter!

I'm ready to be done with this miserable weather. The calendar says spring, but out the window it's not. The temperatures we've been seeing this month are typical for late February / early March. Plus, it's been so grey & gloomy. Spring is stuck in the briars (or as Keegan calls them, the "prickers") & can't seem to come out.
I want to be in the garden.... It's been so long, I almost look forward to weeding -- but not quite.

I looked at the photos of my newest garden this morning, to remind myself that warmth & sun will come. I layed this out in fall of 2005, it got going last spring, & this is a photo from late August. There's still lots of work to do, but it's a good start.

The fountain was a birthday present. I can't wait to get it running again, & eat dinner in the solarium, listening to that water fall.... Hopefully this weekend -- Saturday's forecast: 72 & sunny. It's about time.