A Quick Look Around

Just a quick look around at all the things growing & planted.

~This photo really does the scene NO justice! The cherry tree (in the foreground) is in bloom and spectacular. Daffodils are finishing their blooms along the front porch, with tulips springing up in between them. The tulips from Salem's 'Tulip Day' are giving the fence line mad color, and you can see irises growing wildly in the lower right-hand corner here. It is beautiful and breath taking, and not captured properly here.~

~The front 'Salad Bed' - I've labeled things as best I could, pardon technology if you can't read them. We have Romaine & Red Leaf lettuce, Kale, Chives, Plants that are supposedly Leeks but look like Chives (blame Lowe's if they're Chives), a little bit of Garlic, a Blueberry Bush, and some Strawberry Plants waiting to come up.~

~Looking inside one of the 'Tulip Day' tulips. When I was little and we lived in Abingdon, VA my mother planted tulips along the front walk. I loved to gaze down inside them and was amazed by the yellow & black center. They were my favorite flowers for the longest time because of that. I still love them and this year I got to show Shannon the inside of tulips.~

~These were some of the first daffodils we planted. We ordered them from one of those catalogues you get in the mail & are never quite sure about. They're double-blooming (obviously) and called 'Tahitian Sunrise'~

~The blossoms on the Nectarine tree were already starting to die away by the time I took this photo. We planted the tree last Summer, when we decided that the things we planted should do double-duty and be good for not just beauty or shade, but also provide us food. I've left the tag on there just in case it didn't live the 1st year (it did) as we could return it.~

~Red Leaf lettuce growing in a container hanging off the deck. There is a thistle seed filled bird feeder beside it that needs to be hung up .. somewhere~

~ Romaine and Red Leaf lettuce growing in a pot on the deck. Every year Kroger (a grocery store around here) has these clay pots for sale in the Spring and they're SUPER cheap .. at least comparatively speaking. They're good quality and look a lot nicer than using plastic containers. I've stocked up on several and use them for growing things on the deck & filling in "blank spaces" out in the front gardens.~

I took all the photos on April 3rd, which was 3 days ago. Since that time the Nectarine tree is mostly leaves now, the lilac bush (leftover from the days of my great-grandmother) is beginning to bloom, the big dogwood tree is now in bloom, and things seem to be changing by the minute.
We're also in the middle of an insane (albeit kinda short) heat wave, with temperatures today supposed to reach 91 degrees!!! I'm eager to see how this effects everything growing. I'm also tempted to take the boys down to the river and let them wade around, skip stones, and cool off some.