Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Signs of Summer

It seems like just yesterday I was posting pictures of the signs of spring. Although we lived through the longest winter I can remember, It seems that we have just skipped most of spring. The weather has been summer-like for the last week or so with temperatures reaching the low nineties. I am not sure that I want to go straight into summer, but it sure beats the cold winter we have had.

Lately, when I take my morning stroll through the yard, I have been noticing more and more signs of summer. Of course, I can't show the summer pictures without at least showing one last sign of spring. Or maybe this is a sign of the ending of spring around here---POLLEN! It is everywhere -on the porch, on the cars, on the plants, and on the pond. I even noticed it in the water reservoir of my rainbow vacuum cleaner yesterday!! At times it has been blowing through the air like clouds of dust. Hopefully, some fore casted rain will wash a bit of it away tomorrow.

Pollen on the lilly pads in the pond.



Hydrangeas- one of my favorite parts of summer. I rooted five from my mom's bush that she rooted from a bush that was on another part of her property when they bought it over forty years ago. Four of my five survived. They are fairly easy to root. I hope to root many more this summer.



Hostas- I have a lot of shade in my front yard and can't live without my hostas. They are the most dependable plant that I have. I plant more every year!



Astillbes- I love them, but they never seem to get very big. Maybe our heavy clay soil hinders the growth, I don't know.




Creeping Jenny- This was planted years ago. I have read that it can be very invasive, but not in my poor soil. I love the color, but it never gets much bigger than this.



We deal with very dry shade in the front of our house. The oak trees soak up most of the moisture. Any ideas of what I can plant that will tolerate shade, poor soil, and dry conditions?

10 comments:

tina said...

It seems like you blink your eyes and wowser summer is here yes indeed. Your plants are doing fabulous!

Victoria Williams said...

Well, we like Bishop's Weed, but don't tell anyone. Most people hate it as it loves to spread. But we manage to keep it controlled in our shade garden.

Glenda said...

I just love the pond picture - but not the pollen! Seems that we have more this year than ever before.
Your plants are so green and pretty. We have poor soil, too, and so I use big pots and a few raised beds. I don't have lots of flowers, but I'd love a yard full!

D said...

Carla, spring is here!and your plants look happy and healthy. I actually have my window open and am enjoying the breeze. We went from 70 two weeks ago to rain, rain, 50, and rain. Today is beautiful. Hope you are enjoying your day.

Joan Elizabeth said...

It's fun to see your garden springing into life. I see you like hostas ... I've never been game to plant them because I am told snails chew them up and I have rather a lot of snails in my garden.

Unknown said...

We have hydrangea and hostas in our garden too - just love hydrangea - ours our blue - I also love their ghost-like blooms in winter.

Junkie Junkeldorf said...

My sister's hydrangeas are from the ancient bush in the Old House yard. I'd love to see yours when it blooms so I hope you keep us updated. Are you on Facebook? There is a group called, "Hydrangeas Are My Favorite Flower." There are some amazing photos posted.

We have a heavy frost this morning but, as you pointed out, I will be more comfortable come July than my Southern friends. Happy Spring!

Roses and Lilacs said...

I never have luck with astilbes either. They require much too much watering.

I'd like to try starting some hydrangea cutting this year. I have Annebelle which is my favorite.
Marnie

Skeeter said...

With living in the Deep South, I sometimes joke that we seem to skip spring and go straight to summer. We do have warmer springs then most but nothing like this year! Wow, we broke several high temp records in the past week. The pollen is well, just plain awful with no rain to wash it away. It is coming today so they say. I am glad no baby squirrels were in your cut tree. We had that happen last year but we jumped into action and carefully placed the babies in a protected area until mommy could move them. They were all gone the next morning and we know a critter did not get them as the area was not disturbed. The cross on the church door is wonderful! I shall show this to my MIL as she is in charge of the decorating at her church during Easter and Christmas. Your two new fur babies are adorable!

*Ulrike* said...

Oh, I absolutely love hydrangeas! I am trying to get my backyard full of them so I got a few off of ebay. I have rooted several too, and one I am babying as it came from my great uncles place just before he passed away. I have quite a few astillbes that I keep next to our little pond with quite a few leaves on them. So far so good. We have clay soil too, but I just plunk things in. I figure if it grows then it stays! Hostas are all around. I went to my aunt's house last year, she had a hillside covered in hostas! So I dug up quite a few. Do you have any irises? I have a few early varieties blooming right now. You must have a big pond to have so many lilies! Would love to have a big pond, but ours is a little man made one!