My theory is there's a lot of water in the ground this year.
Lots of water means lots of
plants.
Many, many plants necessarily include
a stunningly large helping of weeds.
Lots of water means lots of of all sorts of other life as well.
But they chitter and chirp and
dive-bomb the feeder stations. Pulling the seed out, and shouting the whole day, just as if they've just arrived from a long winter vacation.
That abundance of life includes
living things we sometimes unhappily encounter withdrawing blood from our
exposed flesh.
Birds in the trees, mobbing the
bird feeder. Lots of food out there by now, guys!
But they chitter and chirp and
dive-bomb the feeder stations. Pulling the seed out, and shouting the whole day, just as if they've just arrived from a long winter vacation. 
A lush, wet, warming-up is good for mosquitoes and other living
things.
No roses without thorns.
...
So where to start? Poppies:
popping up all over.
They spread, growing each year
more dense, turning our little piece of sidewalk-side plot into a fertile
hillside in western Asia.
Very clannish, they all come out
together. Bloom in huge muddle of paper electric-orange petals, blow all at once, then drop those
crepe-paper petals on the sidewalk altogether. The entire cycle lasting but a
couple of weeks. 
Very clannish, they all come out
together. Bloom in huge muddle of paper electric-orange petals, blow all at once, then drop those
crepe-paper petals on the sidewalk altogether. The entire cycle lasting but a
couple of weeks. 
The second photo down enshrines our rescue of
the premature poppy bud that broke off before opening. Anne put it in water in
a tiny vase, with only a miniscule seam of orange showing. I doubted it would
blossom. The next day it time-lapsed in front of our eyes. By the time I got
the camera out, the flower was shrugging off the last corner of its covering
like a teenager kicking off a shoe. The short, exuberant life of the
Mister Mucho Orange.
The second shot is a group poppy
flop-in from the first couple days of opening. I suppose if these things
happened all the time, I wouldn't pay so much attention. But it's only once a
year.
Poppies lead the parade into clematis. In
the top photo they are forcing their way up to the porch and through the railings.
As if dropping for tea. Actually, I think they expect champagne.
Columbine, fourth photo down, takes a
bow in May as well.
Lilac season, fourth pic down,
very exuberant as well ths year. The two lilac trees look a lot different, but
their blooms look and behave a lot alike, and we are still in high perfume.
Wiegelia sharing front yard
billing with one of the lilacs.
Have I mentioned Iris, a solid late-May performer, often showing well into June. Two big
whites were the first to open, the day before we left to spend Memorial Day weekend in the
Berkshires. The Siberian Iris just above igreeted us among a full platoon of his fellows on our return.bearded
The fourth photo down depicts the Columbine, another mid-May favorite.
The sixth photo down shows the white allium that pop up every year all over the garden by means of their own devising.
The sixth photo down shows the white allium that pop up every year all over the garden by means of their own devising.
No comments:
Post a Comment