I'm taking a break to catch up on what's new in the garden. Will you join me?
"For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land."
Song of Solomon 2:11-12
So it's been a little over a year since we moved from south Texas to Idaho, and we're enjoying our second spring here. We are happy to see the return of some favorites from last year, including the ornamental onion in the back flower bed. You can see its purple blossom (think giant chive) in the picture above -- and a butterfly even settled in for the photography session!
We were surprised to see Spanish bluebells in the front yard in mid-April. We honestly don't remember seeing these flowers last year, The honeybees love them, too...
Last fall, I cut the peonies to the ground, and they are growing even more abundantly than last year. Here are some buds reaching through the cage...
Cutting the peony foliage back in the fall is worth the effort. Can't wait till these buds bloom into showy, creamy white flowers that will look lovely in a vase...
We planted Montmorency cherry trees last year. They're beginning to bear fruit...
And so are our plum trees..,
Honeysuckle is blooming near the side of our house...
And another surprise in a hidden corner -- lily of the valley, the flower of my birth month, May!
"Sweetest of the flowers a-blooming'
In the fragrant vernal days
Is the Lily of the Valley
With its soft, retiring ways."
(from The Lily of the Valley, by Paul Laurence Dunbar)
