Blooms and Birthdays

53°f/11.7°C,  this morning, now 84°, windy, cloudy, with storms moving in as I write.

I am very glad to see the change in the weather coming. It has just been too hot for me. Tomorrow night will be in the 30s again--too cold! Can't please us, this crazy weather.

I was happy to see that most of the seeds I planted last week are now up, although apparently Clyde the cat decided they needed to be stirred up into humps and holes in places, so my neat rows now look like I just sowed the seeds randomly. Ah well, it will be fine. Today I planted broccoli and cabbage plants, and seeded a row of green beans. Larry intended to get some corn in, but after mowing he ran out of steam. I did my stringtrimming, or at least most of it, and now I am pretty tired too. And since rain is coming soon, I intend to spend the evening reading!

I did a garden walkabout and took a few photos of what's in bloom now. The poor tulips didn't get a chance to show off much this year, and are already gone. But columbine and iris are starting to bloom now.

First though, my one and only azalea, which is in a very sheltered corner. I have tried planting it other places, but I think our crazy temperature swings are too hard on it. This one, though, has survived for about 30 years in its little corner.

30 years, and only this big! The columbine seeded itself everywhere, including right here by the porch steps. So did that fallen-over daffodil and the ajuga. (Pip helped me take photos....see him on the right?)

The columbine started with one plant I bought about 4 years ago. It was purple, but the seedlings vary from white to pink, lavender, purple and white mix, and deep purple.

The first of the iris opened on Wednesday. 

Columbine made itself at home in this garden too. 

So did fleabane, a wildflower/weed that is much too prevalent here, but so pretty when it blooms.

The alliums are just about done.

Below is an odd space, not really a garden. We stuck daffodils in here a couple years ago when a friend begged us to dig some up because her garden was overcrowded.  Then I tossed in a pack of wildflower seeds, and coreopsis came up and took over. Last Fall I put in some extra tulip and allium bulbs, and this spring tossed in more wildflower seeds. 

The walks are still a mess. I hope I can pressure wash soon, but look how the columbine has nestled up against the stone.

I really like the way this purple columbine tucked itself in beside the white iris. The Star of Bethlehem is beginning to make a nuisance of itself in this garden; it resurfaced after a good 40 years, when I used to have a garden here but abandoned it when I started working full-time.

These next two are actually different varieties of iris, but they look very much alike.

The original columbine, still thriving.

Lots of work ahead: weeding, pressure-washing, getting the planters filled, painting, and planting the rest of the vegetable gardens. I guess we will get it all done. Sometimes it seems overwhelming,  then mid-June I look around and realize that somehow we did it. Or if we don't get it done, will it really matter? The plants will grow, flowers will bloom, and nature will continue doing what she does without our interference.

Today is my oldest son's 57th birthday. How did he get so old! He is talking about retiring this year. I hope he does; it is so good to be able to retire young enough to still do the things you don't have time for when you're working--like long mountain hikes.

It's also my Granny's birthday.  Granny was born 132 years ago, and i often marvel at the changes she saw in her lifetime. She died in 1993, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. Since she lived in England, my sons never had the chance to meet her, and the last time I saw her was in 1963, I think. But I remember her well, a sweet, loving, gentle, but strong lady who had lived most of her life very simply in rural England, and raised her 5 children alone after her husband died in 1930. Naomi Florence Hagger was in some ways a woman ahead of her time. This photo was taken around 1954, when she came for an extended visit around the time of my sister Mary's birth. Here she is holding what looks like a pretty big birthday cake!

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