signs of spring

Wow - sun earlier today - and 50's!! Woo-hoo! A lot of melting going on. Forecast: rain tonight. By Tuesday morning 3-7 inches of fresh snow. Drat. So, good thing I took some pix this morning.

I did this one extra big so you could actually see what I'm so excited about. :)
I have little tulip sprouts showing up in several areas of the gardens. It gives me great hope for beautiful things to come.


A lovely clump of coral bells. I love the spring greens and purples.

My ornamental grass didn't fare too well after the last heavy, wet snow. But I'll be cutting it to the ground soon, so not a problem.

My bowling ball crop is looking spectacular!! :)

A sure sign of better things to come is water appearing around the edges of the lake. This is looking east...

and this is to the west.

And this is straight out from shore. Yup, the little things you see on the ice are fishermen. It's still thick enough to walk on.

sun lovers

The tall bearded iris are blooming. This white one is one of my favorites - it has the sweetest scent.

I think the yellow ones are very pretty also. The purples aren't far behind.

Wild geranium again.

Another geranium - Johnson Blue. These get a little more leggy than the pinky wild geranium (which just seem to form big clumps), but I love the color.

A close up of mountain bluet - centaurea. These are the coolest blooms!

Chives are blooming nicely. My French teacher told me she takes the flowers and sprinkles them on salads - they have a wonderful oniony flavor. I had never done that before, but she's right - they're yummy!

False indigo - I love this bushy plant.

And this is probably the last shot of my tulips for this year - they are fading fast! This is "Sorbet" again - I really like the coloring of this one.

weed, plant, mulch, weed, plant, mulch...

This is "Sorbet" - I showed it a few days ago when it had first opened - light pink and creamy white. Now it's stunning! I like it a lot. Okay, not quite as much as I LOVE "Carnival de Nice," but I think it's really pretty.

See how nicely it works with "Carnival de Nice"? These groups by the lake are totally cool. I done good!! (Ouch - just hurt myself - it's really not that easy to pat yourself on the back)

This little white daff is "Thalia" - I thought it would be cute with "Couleur Cardinal" - but the red is almost done and this is just starting - so not a great pairing.

A couple years ago, a neighbor gave me a clump of this columbine. It has spread everywhere, and I love it. It's so delicate looking.

This is my false indigo - just starting to open. I have never taken a good photo of it open, so I'm showing you this! I love this plant - the flowers are great, the leaf color throughout the summer is a great blue-green, the black seed pods are totally cool. Yup, one of my favorites.

Arb sale stuff is all in the ground now. Today I did dahlias and mini glads. Still need to get to containers - and have caladium and begonia root thingies too (are these all corms? tubers? whatever!) It's been really hot and really windy and no rain - so watered for the first time today. I need to get all the gardens weeded and mulched ASAP.

I was really hot when I finished up today, so was thinking seriously of going for my first swim this year - seriously, that is, until I put my feet in the water - still pretty cold in there!

the lakeside tulips

Yes, I know three posts in one morning/early afternoon is excessive - but I think you'll agree these deserve their own post. I am LOVING this group of tulips!!!This is "Carnival de Nice" - I told Zoey in the comment section recently that it wasn't a double tulip. Well, my bad! It obviously is - I am amazed at how gorgeous this is.

This one just opened this morning - "Sorbet" - really pretty too.

This one - "Fancy Frills" - I've put on previous posts - but thought this photo was pretty cool and so, here's Fancy Frills again.

This is "Mt. Tacoma" - very nice too - and works well with the group I think.

One more of Carnival de Nice - seriously I can't walk through the yard without oohing over this one - the neighbors (and husband and dogs) probably think I'm crazy.

And the bouquet - 3 groups like this in one area of the lakeside garden. I should be cutting them and bringing them in, but I can't stand not to see them in the garden. So next year I'll plant more - feel the same way - plant more ... Do you see my dilemma?

some of today's blooms

I'm going to do three posts this morning, I think. When I went out about 10:30, I thought I probably wouldn't get any photos - bright sun - drat, waited too long. But I actually came up with some fairly good ones. The tulips down by the lake are fabulous and deserve a post of their own! And even though the dogs spend a lot of time in my gardens, they aren't really part of the gardens, so they get their own post today too.My columbine just started blooming. My neighbor has had tons of these blooming for years, and I kept waiting for them to jump over the retaining wall into my garden. Finally, she just gave me a couple - and they're doing great! I have another one down by the lake that the birds must have brought to me. It's in full hot sun and is gorgeous. It hasn't started blooming yet, but probably soon.

My neighbor's bleeding heart is in more sun than mine, and has been blooming away for a couple weeks now - it's gorgeous. Mine is finally stepping up to the plate. I love these old-fashioned blooms. (this photo is clearer than it looks! The second row of hearts kind of makes my eyes go bleary tho)Wild geraniums are so gorgeous when the clumps are covered with tiny blooms - but it's really hard to get a photo that does it justice. So here's my attempt. (Please note the color coordination: dark purple dwarf iris on one side and red-purple tulips on the other. LOL. It's actually very pretty)

This is a new tulip I ordered at the Keukenhof last spring. It's called "Couleur Cardinal." It shows a lot of orange in this photo - but in person it's quite a dark red. I chose it because it reminded me of the bridesmaids' dresses Sara chose for her and Ryan's wedding. I ordered 20 extra and sent them out to Ryan and Sara last fall - along with some white daffs. They decided to put their house up for sale this last winter and so didn't plant them, thinking they would be gone before they bloomed. Now I wish I had them here in my garden! (Family: they sold their house, close on June 7 - AND over the weekend they found a house they love and close on it June 1 - serendipity!)

Here's another pretty red tulip - "Burgundy Lace" - as it ages it becomes darker (which the Couleur Cardinal will probably do too). Very pretty.

And this is a little species tulip that just opened - it's a very pale purple-pink with yellow center. It's sweet. I also have a yellow species that is starting - but I'm saving it for another post because, unlike this one, it will actually have several blooms and will be a prettier photo when they're all open I think.

finally a little sun

Okay - pretty much I'm just shooting more photos of the tulips you've already seen - because each day they open more - or the light is perfect - or I just want to see them again and think maybe you do too. So I actually don't have a zillion tulips - it's a camera trick!

The first five photos are all of the same group of tulips. There are some smaller tulips just beginning to bloom behind these taller ones. (Does that sound like good planning or what??)

We got about 1/2 inch of rain last night - in a 15-20 minute cloudburst. We were picking up a couple who lives down the street to go to dinner about 6 pm - and just as we walked out the door, it let loose. So we were all soaked when we got to the restaurant - but after some very good margaritas, I don't think anyone really cared. Had some good Mexican food, some fun conversation, and a nice evening out.

This morning I had French class - we must be getting better because the 1 1/2 hours is just flying by. We were able to sit out on Nadine's deck - lovely. After class she dug up some of her plants for me - so I'm going to have fun this afternoon. I'm afraid my computer work will just have to wait another day!

The sun is trying to make a comeback - still partly cloudy today, but much better than the last few grey days. And the wind thankfully has calmed down too. Last weekend was very windy - a lot of downed trees and damaged docks and boat covers around the area. We just had a ton of dead branches fall to the ground, so very lucky.

These are more of the tulips by the lake - the fringed is Fancy Frills - and the white is Mt Tacoma - a double white. Both are very pretty - I like the double - almost looks like a peony bloom.

This is the bouquet effect by the lake - still one pink to open - but it is very pretty down there. I planted 3 separate groups with these tulips - so nice color.

These two photos were taken back in 2003 when we did my CD - we just can't seem to get great photos this year of the brunnera and the lungwort. We will keep trying - but I wanted to share what's blooming. I have brunnera everywhere - it's a nuisance in my garden - but I love both the teeny blue flowers (and I have white also) and the heartleaf foliage - very nice. Lungwort is one of my favorites - the foliage is awesome and I think the flowers are very sweet.

I have to head out and start planting - hope you have a nice day!

More May blooms

Isn't this gorgeous? I can't wait until it opens all the way - IF we ever get a sunny day maybe that will happen. This is one of my new ones "Carnival de Nice" from the Keukenhof orders. I have groups of 4 different late blooming tulips down by the lake - and 3 of the tulips are opening - a fringed pink "Fancy Frills", a pure white ("Tacoma" I think), and this one. The 4th one is also pink if I remember right.

Here are two views of some white tulips in the river birch garden. It's disappointing that so many tulips aren't blooming - because of rabbits and the late cold snap - but the ones that did produce are very pretty.

I need to dig out my crib sheets and figure out what the names are for all of these - can't believe how lazy I am this spring!

I was having trouble getting photos of my small spring bloomers - so Mark hauled out the big guns this afternoon and took these three for me. The first two are of Jacob's Ladder - one of my favorite spring bloomers.

And this is a wild geranium that I have all over my garden - it blooms anywhere. When they're in full bloom, they're a mound of purple-y pink blooms - I just love them!

When you step out the door on the street side, you are greeted with the sweet smell of blooming lilacs - wonderful! Both of our neighbors have the old fashioned lilac bushes on our fence line. One is by the street, and one down by the lake - so we get to enjoy wherever we are in the yard! I remember the lilac bushes we had on the farm - one on either side of the path that went out to the mailbox. They are a happy childhood memory.

catching up

I've been a slug!! Wednesday was our anniversary - 37 years (OMG) - and I guess I haven't recovered yet. Actually, just busy with different things - not a lot of new photos from the garden - etc.

We had a very nice anniversary. Mark had to go to Chicago to meet the new boss Monday and was back home about 11 am Wednesday, so we did a late lunch - very nice. Then late afternoon/evening we ran some errands and had a light dinner. So, pretty quiet - but a very nice day.

Last Sunday, the flippers two houses down invited us over. I think they invited other neighbors and friends of theirs, but when we were there it was just us. They're fun and we had a good time. Lynn made fondue - hadn't had that in a zillion years. Yummy cheese fondue with bread cubes and stuffed pasta, and a decadent chocolate fondue with fresh strawberries and chunks of angel food cake. Very good!

Earlier on Sunday another couple who lives on our street came down for awhile - we had helped take care of their sweet little dog while they were out of town. Just a nice hour or so of chatting - catching up - thinking we really need to make more time for relaxed visiting.

Yesterday I went to visit my sister who was babysitting her 5 1/2 month old granddaughter. Had 2 wonderful hours of baby time. She is adorable - all smiles - and now she's "talking" a lot - too cute.

In a couple hours we're meeting Kyle and Leah for lunch - I've only met Leah once before, so really looking forward to getting to know her better.

So that catches you up pretty much on "life with Kris"! We actually had about 2/10 inch of rain yesterday - could use quite a bit more. It's grey and really windy out today - so not great for photo taking. The dwarf iris in the first photo are heavenly - they smell wonderful. I checked my soil temps Thursday - 65 to 70 in most of the gardens! - so if the wind dies down, I can start putting on mulch (after removing the zillions of tree seedlings that are growing very nicely).

We've watched a couple movies this last week - Night at the Museum and The Queen. Both were pretty good - we enjoyed them.

I've read a couple books - The Camel Bookmobile by Masha Hamilton was really good - I've read 3 of her books and they are all very well-written.

Also The Quilter's Homecoming - by Jennifer Chiaverini. I can't decide if I really like her books or not. I've read them all, and I think how cool it would be to know how to quilt, and I like her stories - but there is something about her writing that bugs me - not sure what, just me, I'd guess!

I just started one by William Kent Krueger - I'll let you know what I think - so far it's looking pretty good.