F is for Frosted Flowers or
If you're visiting from the A-Z Challenge, a Second Look is a feature I do every week where I look around my yard and document what I see. I take a "second look" and try to see beyond the weeds to the wonders of nature that are in my own backyard. Here's how it all got started.
Winter weather has returned and we've had several mornings with temperatures in the 20's--too cold for me in April. However, it's not been too cold for the frosted flowers. They have all survived just fine. I guess if they bloom in spring, they have to be able to tolerate cold weather. The birds have started to build nests, and the deer are enjoying munching on all of the new growth. (Sigh).
Here are a few things I saw this week
during a Second Look.
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| This group of grape hyacinths was a volunteer. |
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| The pansies planted last fall are blooming again. |
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| Wooly bear. This is the first time I've seen one in the spring. I am used to seeing them in the fall as they are trying to find a place to hibernate. Wooly bears spend the winter frozen as a caterpillar, and thaw in the spring to pupate and turn into a tiger moth |
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| Glory of the snow. |
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| The dogwoods are thinking about blooming. |
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| Daffodil (See the D post for more daffodil pictures.) |
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| This deer had just raised its head to take a breather from munching on day lilies. |
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| The peach tree has fewer blooms than last year. |
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| However the forsythia has more blooms. This forsythia is just a few scraggly branches in the back corner of the yard. However, its yellow blooms are always a welcome sight in this forgotten corner. |
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| The birds are starting to build nests in the nest boxes. The first one is a sparrow's nest and I think the second one is a decoy nest to go with the first one. The third one is a bluebirds nest. I have removed the decoy nest to give something else a chance. |
You have such a lovely yardI
ReplyDeleteThank you. It's not fancy, but we enjoy it.
DeleteI love to watch the woolly bears come out and waddle around! Thanks for sharing the pictures :)
ReplyDeleteThis one was moving fast and had its mouth open. I had never noticed a mouth on one before. It was interesting to watch.
DeleteOh these are some beautiful pictures!
ReplyDeleteThank you. Springtime provides a lot of beautiful things for pictures.
DeleteGreat pictures! We went to Illinois for a long weekend--our forsythia is nowhere near ready to bloom, but theirs (and their flowering fruit trees) were out in full force. Some of their trees were starting to have leaves in the early stages. I miss color at this time of year and it was fun to see everything blooming.
ReplyDeleteWhat you saw over the weekend sounds like things are here. Once this cold snap breaks, I think we'll have another big move forward in the growth of things.
DeleteIt may not seem like it, but soon you'll get your spring.
Your theme is beautiful and so are these pictures :)
ReplyDeleteCheers
Thanks. I have really benefited from doing these Second Looks for my blog. I've learned a lot and enjoy my time exploring outdoors.
DeleteHow pretty! I have tried and failed miserably with grape hyacinths. Dogwoods here are in their final stages of blooms and are almost totally leafed out. I always think they are so beautiful when blooming in mass.
ReplyDeleteWe have grape hyacinths that pop up everywhere, so they're not quite formally planted anywhere anymore. I think the squirrels replant them.
DeleteNot sure if there's a secret to growing them or not because I don't do anything to them.
Love the spring flowers and the wooly bear. I don't see them here in spring either. The birds here too are beginning to make their nests.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we don't see wooly bears in the spring because the nesting birds eat them?
DeleteHow very thoughtful of you to plant some daylilies for the deer to much on! Just like it was so nice of me to plant cherry trees so the squirrels could eat fresh cherries each summer! Sometimes, the squirrels even let me eat a few of "their" cherries.
ReplyDeleteAt least the animals give us something to watch.
It looks like your spring flowers didn't mind the cold weather. Hopefully spring will be back in full force in a few days.
Some the new growth on the hydrangea got frost bitten, but it should recover okay.
DeleteSquirrels can do as much or more damage to things as the deer. And let's not forget the rabbits.
I know rabbits can be troublesome in some areas. Fortunately for me, I've only ever seen one bunny in our yard. He/she was so cute, only nibbled on fallen leaves from the cherry tree and didn't get into the garden. But I was a bit nervous that 1 rabbit would become 10 or more. We did have that deer in our yard last summer. I had to chase him out of the blueberry bushes from time to time. But he was beautiful.
DeleteRabbits are really cute. The best is when in the early morning, the little ones play with each other by chasing and hiding. They look just like kittens.
DeleteYou have some gorgeous blooms in your yard. I'm particularly partial to the Glory of the Snow. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteI don't know of anyone else who has boxes specifically set up for birds to nest in. That's awesome.
They have probably been there for years, but I just discovered the Glory of the Snow last year. They were in an overgrown part. They were a very pleasant surprise.
DeleteI can see some of the damage from the deer. I want so badly to plant tulip bulbs here but after losing the tulips at the apartment to the deer I haven't bought any. And to make you feel better we've been having the same weather here I bet you are just as anxious for some nice spring days as I am.
ReplyDeleteI think we're all ready for the cold, wet weather to be over. So many plans yet to be filled.
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