New life

I'm an early riser. Far too early to suit me, but that's how I'm wired, I guess.

As soon as it's light enough to see, I go outside, because exciting things are happening out there. Since we claimed this section of the pasture/hayfield as home only last summer, we had lots of planting to do. Now everything is coming to life, and it's a big adventure for me.

Right outside the front door is this dwarf lilac bush which, as you can see, is about to bloom. I don't know why it's slower than all the other lilacs in the neighborhood; I'm just happy to know it's going to have flowers, and it's less than a year old.

Behind the lilac bush is a clematis vine, one of several Cliff's sister brought from Wisconsin last year. It seems to climb inches taller each day.

In the front yard, I check the Chanticleer Pear tree. In the background you can see one of two Autumn Blaze maples that are also thriving and healthy. You can also see the mature Kentucky Coffee Bean tree I blogged about recently.

Following the sidewalk around the house to the back, I monitor the progress of the Astilbes I put out in early spring. These are especially exciting because I've never had them, and all I know about how they look is what I saw in the seed catalog. I can't wait to see them up-close and personal! They're supposed to be a good shade plant, and I needed something on the north side of the house.

Another good plant for the shade, Impatiens.

This is the tiny Chinquapin Oak tree I brought up from the woods last fall. It's alive! See the reddish leaf-buds? It's a slow grower, so Cliff and I probably won't live to see it in its mature glory. Still, it'll be fun to watch, knowing it started life back by my cabin.

I received ten free trees (for a small donation, so how free is that?) from the Arbor Day Foundation. I had given them all up for dead, but a few days ago I noticed the Washington Hawthorns had buds, and I did a happy dance. Out of ten trees, two lived. Hey, that's better than nothing.

And then this morning, I noticed that a flowering crabapple is waking up. That makes three out of ten. Maybe more will come to life?

I've already blogged about the "dead" Norway Spruce trees that are, one by one, getting busy growing. I love it! Seeing life come back into those trees, some of which had become nothing but bare sticks, is amazing.

No, this wasn't taken in my yard. I took it yesterday in the woods. I must say, all of these and others I found were very tasty.

See? How can a person NOT be excited, with all this going on?