Ahhhh, Spring!

As ya'll know my favorite season of the year is spring. Ah spring! It's finally warm, but not too warm. The sun shines more than the moon does and the song birds sing the sweetest songs ever heard! I've worked hard to make my garden a welcoming place for birds and they come to the birdbaths and feeders in great abundance. Red headed woodpeckers, cardinals, mockingbirds, crows, and blue jays dominate the forest that abuts our property. But even the bullies of the bird world can't intimidate the tiny little titmice, carolina wrens, purple finches, song sparrows, and chickadees. Watching the guys get sweet on their little gals is such fun to watch. There is a pair of finches that come to the feeders at suppertime each evening. He feeds his little woman beak-to-beak..it's almost as if he's persuading her that he will take good care of her while she sits on the nest. Male persuasion never ceases I guess :-)

We had a cold snap again this spring, but fortunately the temperatures did not drop as much as expected, nor as much as they did last year. These late frost periods are called "dogwood winter" since they tend to coincide with the blooming of the dogwood trees. Now that the cold has passed, it's now relatively safe to start planting annuals, veggies, and tender perennials. My early spring perennials are really looking good. The first photo is a Winky Rose Aquilegia (columbine) that I planted 2 years ago. they are doing very well. I also have the Winky Blue & White variety which is rather enormous in it's 3rd season. It will have to be divided next year.

Dividing perennials is the smart gardeners way to make their flower dollar stretch. I've been working hard for almost 2 weeks now dividing and distributing dwarf shasta daisies and pink and blue scabiosa. I think I'll wait until next year to divide the hostas and Stella d'oro daylilies again. My reward for all this frugality? A new tree. Specifically the one tree I don't have in my yard and have always wanted...a deep pink dogwood tree. I found a tree at the garden center that was small enough that I can plant it myself and the branches have perfect form...important for a beautiful tree 10 or 20 years from now. I had hoped for more rain this weekend to help with the planting, but it didn't happen. It is so dry!!!

I'll end this post with a photo of my great-niece Isabella. She and her Mommy Mary Catherine came to visit last week..one last chance to see the great-grandparents before they return to Hawaii this week. I will miss them fiercely, but I'm so thrilled to know that my nephew Tyler has such an amazing wife and a beautiful baby that is getting all the best kind of mothering a child could ever hope for. It does this Old Maid's heart good to see MC doing such a great job :-) I love you MC!