"Every end is a beginning"

When you look at the year with a gardener's eye, where do you see the beginning?  

Maybe winter, when you plan and dream for the season ahead?  

Or are you like me, and view the beginning as the time those first green shoots and buds appear?  

The beginning of this gardener's year was late.  A look back at photos has confirmed my 

suspicion that the garden blooms have been appearing a week or more later than they did in 2012.

It's been such a cool Spring that many of the seeds I started didn't germinate.

The Easter lilies were blooming on May 20, 2012.

Today they're just beginning to bud.

The hydrangeas and daylilies that are just now budding were also blooming at this time last year.

Some of last year's blooms haven't returned at all.  

The columbine, gaillardia, and coreopsis are gone, though I'm not sure why.  

The impatiens that normally self-seed were stricken last August by downy mildew.  

But this is the way of the garden, isn't it?  Always changing.  Plants die while seeds sprout.  

The cycle of life continues.  While I mourn the loss of the columbine (that I started from seed), 

I rejoice at the first bloom on the daisies (that I also started from seed).

The garden is full of color despite the missing columbine.

The dianthus has an abundance of blooms and nothing can stop evening primrose.

The bearded irises from my mother-in-law's garden have multiplied many times over 

and put on a great show that has just now faded.

The Virginia spiderwort that I dug from my daughter's backyard continues to spread and 

light up the garden with it's blue blooms.

The pale pink blooms of the old-fashioned climbing rose, grown from a cutting rooted by my daughter-in-law, are as beautiful as ever.  (Read the story behind this rose here.)

These three plants - the irises, spiderwort, and climbing rose - give me special joy, with their faithfulness and connection to family.

Earlier in May, the scent of the Mock Orange greeted me at the steps

and the rhododendron blooms greeted me as I pulled into the driveway.

I look forward to the daylily, hydrangea, and Easter lily blooms,  followed by lantana, zinnia, and marigolds - the bright colors of summer.  I am thankful for the changing of the seasons and the gifts of each. And I am thankful, especially, for the reminder that "every end is a beginning."

"Our life is an apprenticeship to the truth that around every circle another can be drawn; that there is no end in nature, but every end is a beginning, and under every deep a lower deep opens."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A caress and a consolation

"What delights us in the spring is more a sensation than an appearance, more a hope than any visible reality. There is something in the softness of the air, in the lengthening of the days, in the very sounds and odors of the sweet time, that caresses us and consoles us after the rigorous weeks of winter."

- Philip Gilbert Hamerton

I'd like to think that this is the reason I'm so dissatisfied with all of my photos, 

why something seems to be missing from them - 

it is impossible, after all, to capture the essence of Spring in a photograph.

But I try just the same.

Something new every morning

The transformation in my garden over the last week has been amazing.  We're at that stage of Spring when every morning brings some new bud or bloom or bright green shoot peeking out from the leaves.  The Chestnut Oak has begun to toss its tassels everywhere, on top of the yellow layer of pine pollen, 

but it's a small price to pay for all of this new life.

We spent the weekend away from the garden, at the family lake house where I spent a lot of 

time watching the bluebirds from the porch.

 

The ducks made an appearance, too.

And the sunset was amazing.

When we arrived home, the bees were visiting the crabapple blooms

and the columbine was budding.

This morning, I was greeted with a beautiful bloom and the sight of many more buds.  The columbine is one of the first plants that I started from seed, and it gives me extra joy to see them bloom.

The penstemon is standing tall and budding while the thyme is covered in tiny white blooms.

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Hosta is poking out of the ground in some spots and well on its way above ground in others.

So much to enjoy now, and so much to look forward to (with my new gardening companion by my side)!!

"Let the rain kiss you"

Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. 

Let the rain sing you a lullaby. 

Langston Hughes

It rained last night!  An entire inch was in the rain gauge when we got up this morning.  And though my sweet dog was not happy about the thunder and lightening that came along with the rain, I didn't mind at all.  I'm still hoping for more - the forecast calls for a 60% chance through the night.

Everything in  the garden looked greener and happier this morning. The Virginia spiderwort was blooming.  I cut it back pretty drastically about a month ago and it's now blooming again.

The knock out rose has this one pretty little bloom but a number of other buds.

A drop of rain was still holding on to the Gaura - well, actually several drops.

Several of the gladiolas were broken by the heavy downpour or the wind.  I brought them inside and put them in a vase that already contained some greenery.

The zinnias can take the heat and the drought, but they welcomed the rain, too!

I spent all day outside digging and weeding - but not watering!  I don't believe I've ever been as dirty as I was when I was through.  But what a good day it was - and now I'm happy to be clean and enjoying a cold drink before dinner!

Coming Soon - I hope!

Thanks to Tootsie Time for hosting "Fertilizer Friday", an invitation to garden bloggers to "flaunt their blooms."  Head on over to Tootsie Time for more information on Fertilizer Friday and where it gets its name.
Most of my blooms today are on azaleas and dogwoods, pictures of which I have recently posted.  So I'm sharing with you pictures of blooms that I hope to see on my plants soon.  These pictures are from previous seasons but all of these plants are loaded with buds at the moment and I'm hoping for a big show soon!