Tag Archives: Spring

Flower Walk

Country Life, Gardens, ,

Early spring always calls for a walk around our property to look for signs of life. And it is so exciting when you find some. It means winter is on its way out. And while I like winter, there is a time for everything and this is the time for gardens and warmer days. Above is the lungwort nestled amongst the vinca vine. It is a native perennial. You can identify even without the flower, by its mottled leaves.

These are the only trilliums we have. Trillium were once endangered in Ohio. They do not like to be disturbed so I have never moved them. They are also nestled amongst the vinca vine. The lungwort and trillium like to grow in shade. They reside in our pine grove under the tall trees.

Pale pink blossoms belong to the viburnum. The bush and its flowers are not particularly showy but the smell is amazing. Worth growing for the fragrance alone.

This is the beginnings of flowering on our red bud trees. I was not familiar with them before we bought these from the county extension office but I am a big fan.

These trees are also from the county extension office. They are river birches. It amazing what you can grow from sticks not even as big around as a pencil.

We have many plants from the extension office because we like the try new things. Their offerings are selected to do well in our area. We have several of these bushes from one such experiment. They are plum bushes that grow little football shaped plums. So far the bushes have only produced a few fruits and the birds enjoyed those before we had the chance.

Onward spring! I look forward to many more blooms.

Daffodils in Spring

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, Gardens, ,

And so it begins…

We have many daffodils, and soon narcissis too. This is just a small fraction of the daffodils we have blooming today and they are just getting started. Many more to come.

This lady vase is special. She was given to me by a friend and former co-worker. The vase belonged to her parents and she chose to share it with me! I reserve the Lady Vase mostly for spring flowers which are special after a long winter. I keep the vase up on our living room mantel so it is safe.

This is why. Kitties love biting and batting flowers around. And I cannot be around 24 hours a day. So up out of harm’s way she goes.

May you have spring flowers to enjoy and friends to share them with!

Play!

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

Just a typical spring day around here.

Go to the tractor store. Go to the cute little neighbor boy’s birthday party. Start some seeds on the enclosed porch. Play with dogs.

And watch dogs play!

And play…

Is it any wonder we enjoy spring?

Spring Is Here!

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

Zeke, Cassius, Baxter, and Paisley

This is what dogs do on a sunny spring day! It’s still only 42 degrees but the sun made it feel a little warmer. The sheltie girls, Shelby and Nikki, supervised from the sidelines. Shelby takes her job seriously and barks and chases the others for a short distance telling them to get it right. Nikki just sleeps.

All four of the dogs pictured above have been known to catch the frisbee, but mostly it’s Paisley and Baxter, each getting it about 50% of the time. They catch it and bring it back, over and over. Paisley is a tough little girl. She got rolled in the mud yesterday but still keeps trying for the frisbee every time. She weighs only 22 lbs. to Baxter’s 62, but she’s fast and agile. She’s also two years old to Baxter’s ten.

Here is what the dogs look like in action. You can even see Shelby playing referee from the sidelines. Their just happy to spend more time outside again.

Rebirth

Country Life, Gardens, , ,

I finally took some time and worked on fall chores. I dug up all my gladioli bulbs to store them for winter. We are in Zone 5 so you never know if they will survive to come up in the spring or not. It just depends how cold it gets. If I leave them in the ground, sometimes they come up the next year and others they don’t. I have enough bulbs now that I don’t want to take a chance.

So I take the time to dig them up so we can enjoy them again next year.

Once I have dug them up, I spread them out so they can dry for a few days to a week. If they are all clumped together they can retain too much moisture and rot.

After that I put them into several paper bags. They need to have air circulation but still be in the dark. I store the bags in the basement so they don’t freeze. And that’s it. Come spring time I will break off any dead parts from the previous season and separate bulbs that have multiplied but stuck together. Then they will be ready to go back in the soil and we can enjoy them all over again.

Native Plants

Country Life, Gardens,

Walking around our property I see that many of our early bloomers are native plants. The bleeding heart or Dicentra looks so delicate.

And we are lucky enough to have a trillium with five stalks. They are not very common. I just learned recently that another name for trillium is wake robin.

Our grapevines are leafing out . They have tiny buds right now.

The dogwood in the front yard is nearly done blooming but is beautiful nonetheless.

And the honeysuckle is open now.

Mother Nature provides us with many gifts.

Scents of Spring

Country Life, Gardens, ,

There are some flowers that I plant primarily because of their scent. The vase contains viburnum and lilacs. My first encounter with a viburnum was some years back. I was walking into the library when I noticed this most wonderful smell. I walked up and down the sidewalk until I determined from which plant it was emanating. Then I started poking around until I found a tag which identified the plant. Not too long after that, I was the proud owner of one of these plants.

I don’t find it to be the prettiest of bushes but the scent makes it well worth having. Mine is planted underneath a window so that we are often blessed with its scent. I also cut at least one stalk to have in a vase at all times during the bloom season.

The simple lilac is another gem. It is pleasant to look at but I consider the scent to be its greatest offering. I think many would agree with me as its flowers have been made into perfumes for many a year. Walking around the yard is a treat for the senses during the month of May.

And the humble honeysuckle will be offering up an olfactory delight shortly as well. The month of May offers an awakening of the senses after a long, frigid winter.

Dogs in Spring

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals,

This weather is making for happy dogs! It has been around 70 degrees for most of the past week.

The pack gets to spend a few hours outdoors if it doesn’t rain, and there are walks and frisbeeing too.

Of course all that running and frisbeeing makes a dog thirsty.

I’m not sure that anyone told Cassius that he’s a retired racer. That dog does love to run. He is also a silly boy

Although Shelby the sheltie says that she is too dignified to run, thank you very much. Each of our dogs is enjoying this fine weather in their own way.

Longing

Country Life, Gardens,

Spring weather is exceedingly slow in arriving this year. Luckily my husband decided to grow this amaryllis so we do have some flowers.

We sit around in the evening admiring the beautiful flowers. We are not used to going so long without them.

They are a feast for the soul!

Cabin Fever

Country Life, Dogs & Other Animals, ,

Dogs get cabin fever too. You would think that the later half of April in Ohio would bring spring weather. We are still waiting.

This was the view out my window this afternoon. Not very “springy”. It has been too cold and blustery, or some days too rainy, to go for walks.

The dogs were down in the dumps for a couple of days. Now they are just impatient and looking for something to get into.

So we resorted to playing “The Indoor Game”. This involves kicking a rubber toy down the long central hallway of the house. Much chasing, barking, jumping, and chasing ensues.

Zeke has been here long enough that he joins right in.

No fighting or growling takes place aside from playing. We are blessed with good natured dogs. But nevertheless, we are eagerly awaiting spring!