Weather Report

43F and rainy. Cold, but the earliest tree peony flowers are opening anyway. The plants are just covered with swelling buds. The mild winter seems to have allowed some plants exceptional vigor this spring.

I also noticed there are Red Admiral butterflies all over the garden. They are a butterfly that overwinters as an adult, hidden in cracks and crevasses of the tree bark. Apparently most winters kill off a high percentage. This year they gotten a free pass. 

A few Summer birds are showing up. The warbler migration is just starting. Normally they are easier to spot, but this year the trees are already leafed out. With my old eyes I will be able to see them, but only I.D. them by their habits. Oh, and yesterday the wrens showed up and are in the process of sorting out their territories. Amazingly combative little bits of warm feather.  

I'll try to get the camera out tomorrow and take some pictures. It's too damned cold today, and I have to get to cleaning the floors anyway.

The Red Tulips

At about the same time as we married 42 years ago my grandparents moved from the farm to a retirement home in town. My grandma Nellie gave me a bag of tulip bulbs from her garden. She had originally gotten the stock from Mrs. Andrew Hanson 30 or 40 years before that. I would guess that Mrs. Hanson probably had them for 30 years before that. I would like to tell you that the red tulip is from that stock. I cannot. After half a century of tending by good gardeners, I killed them all in about two years. 

The red tulips are pretty tough though. We bought 1410 Oakwood about 25 years ago. The tulips were planted by the previous owner, Bonnie Carr. I don't particularly like red tulips. In fact I've tried to kill them, even dig them up. They slowly come back. After 25 years I've given up and even have learned to admire them. If only for their staying power.

Sunday Afternoon

With the warm, early Spring, everything is out of whack. Some things are really early, others right on time. Pictures are from the perennial garden and the rough lawn.

Early Green

Spring Walk Around 1410

The front entry garden.

The rough lawn below the flower garden.

View from the back of the Growlery

And the best for last? This is a shot of the overgrown patio next door. This is the weekend home of Larry and Linda Anderson, who just happens to be my wife's sister. They are considering building a larger retirement home there, possibly soon. Under the duff, sticks, moss and weeds, there are bricks that are the same as my perennial garden walkway. The day they sign a building contract these bricks are mine. They are mine! Mine! All mine! This will allow me to more visually link the Growlery entrance to the rest of the perennial garden. And make me an even happier man. If that is possible.