I hope you are all staying safe and healthy!
Spring has sprung in our part of the world. I was even able to break into my summer wardrobe this week. It is difficult to enjoy the little things right now with the anxiety and worry we are all dealing with.
We have a variety of phlox around the yard.
3 very orderly buds. It appears like they are ready to begin a synchronized dance.
Pollen is quite high right now as seen with the dotting on the petals and leaves.
Hopefully the strawberry flowers turn into scrumptious fruit!
The lavender plants are flowering delightfully.
A Japanese painted fern is opening beautifully.
The Japanese maple is covered with itty bitty red flowers creating a cheerful appearance.
The ice plants are coming back and have such pretty color right now. It looks like we have some bits to clean up here but the old and new growth look really cool together.
The fig trees are starting to leaf out. We are hoping to get lucky with our first harvest this year. I have scrumptious dreams of homemade fig bars. Someday!
The banana plants are coming back. These grow larger each year adding a wonderful tropical vibe to the yard. By the end of next week, there will likely be an open leaf.
Our Ti plant is potted and comes inside during the winter. She is happy to be back outside! How gorgeous is that dying leaf with the contrasting hot pink?
The ornamental peach is flowering. She is just marvelous. We have seen these planted in the area so we plan on moving her from a pot to the butterfly garden this year.
Then there are the darling weeds popping up.
Berries growing under our deck.
A lazy weed leaning against the foundation.
All the plantings seem to be doing really well which brings us a little happiness during an unhappy time.
Thank you for stopping by! ~Val
Since Jim and I now live in a new climate are constantly seeing plants, flowers and such we would love to have in our yard.
We both really wanted camelias because they bloom in the winter here. Who doesn't want to see flowers in their yard in the dead of winter?
After observing what a mess they make, we decided to simply enjoy them in the area gardens nearby.
My favorites are the rose like ones with tons of petals!
When they first litter the ground, they tend to fall off in their whole form which is so pretty.
I would not want to be the gardener who has to pick the petals out of the lily grass below.
I hope you enjoyed our little camelia observation.
Thank you for stopping by! ~Val
When we experienced our first frost here, Jim ran out into the yard with the camera to show his creative eye.
Here are our Japanese maple tree leaves that fell on our deck steps.
This last one is a deck post cap. It looks like it needs a shave.
Such beauty in nature.
I hope you enjoyed these photos. It is January and there are still blooms on our knockout roses!
Thank you for stopping by! ~Val
I haven't been blogging much lately due to various ongoing house projects consuming me. Hopefully we will have things wrapped up by fall but I do have a long list of tasks to do, mostly involving painting. Very time intensive!
The weather has been cool and wet for the most part. The upside is the plants and flowers are loving it!
Our azaleas which barely had flowers last year are incredibly happy! They are ancient so their shapes are a little funny. I'm afraid trim them too much which could affect their livelihood.
Above is a bit on the red side. The shrub below it hot pink, still waiting for the flowers to fully open!
These purple tulips are experiencing a very long bloom life.
One of them is shy not wanting its picture taken.
We have these stunning red tulips that look fake! It was mentioned to me that these are sometimes referred to as peony tulips which makes complete sense considering how the flower opens and appears when in complete bloom.
The petals are amazing.
Our ancient lilac bush is back like crazy (we considered chopping her down last summer)!
Definitely a keeper now!
I hope you enjoyed some of the color we are seeing around the yard.
Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful week. ~Val
It is quite pretty out there! The blooms are giving me some good practice with the camera and macros.
I love the details on the stems of the weeping cherry tree.
The azalea are incredibly colorful!
We are waiting for 1 batch of lilies to open. This purple patch are the only ones we have.
Bleeding hearts galore!
The white lilacs are as fragrant as can be.
I believe this is a type of azalea too.
The Japanese maple is full of color.
Fluffy rhododedron balls!
Our stone wall coverings. Very lush! These ivy leaves are massive.
Thank you for stopping by! I hope you are enjoying nature this season too. ~Val
