Wednesday, April 29, 2009

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?

8 comments:

  1. I love mornings too! My favorite time of day. I sit on my porch, drinking tea, and watching the birds and my cows. Then, after my tea, I jump into my busy life.

    Love your blog.

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  2. OK. That's IT.
    I was envious enough of all the plant life - we had snow yesterday, my lilac is just barely budding, my astilbe is nowhere to be found and the deer are eating my tulips. But the last straw? The VERY LAST STRAW?

    Morels.

    You SUCK. :(
    (unless you invite me to visit really, really soon)

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  3. I love mornings too. Years ago before I started this job, I wasn't a morning person at all, but years of getting up early now have made me change. I just can't seem to get enough of the beauty of nature all around me. Birds singing, plants growing and the smell is just heavenly.

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  4. Your plants look great! I bet mornings are just beautiful at your house.

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  5. I participated in a tree planting last Saturday in Budd Park.. 95 volunteers showed up, mostly from the neighborhood, and planted 40 trees that were provided by Heartland Tree Alliance. It was a blast... Now I can watch these "baby" (the rootballs weighed about 200 pounds) trees grow over the next few years. You are right... that is great fun.

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  6. Sounds like fun to this old country gal. Your trees, flowers, and veggie garden are all looking pretty. Helen

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  7. Hey, that last one is a MOREL MUSHROOM!!!!!!See, you didn't even have to tell me.

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  8. Sounds like Heaven to me!

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