Spring officially delivered us our first hot day yesterday when the temperatures reached low 80's. Fortunately, cooler temperatures have returned today with a little rain. Most of the trees are in some stage of bloom right now and it's very pretty outside. I can only imagine how beautiful they will look next year when they haven't just had a severe pruning.
Here are some things I saw this week
during a Second Look.
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| Another couple of daffodils bloomed. Because I am not seeing them en mass. I get a chance to appreciate the individual blooms. |
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| Feed them and they will come. Compared to our old yard, I've seen very few squirrels here. However, it was only a matter of time until we started waging our battle against them at the bird feeders. That war began this week. But so far, we're only mildly discouraging them as they are providing a lot of entertainment for us and the cats. |
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| Grape hyacinths and periwinkle are blooming together for a nice splash of purple color. |
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| In the same bed, I've counted at least 6 different kinds of invasive plants. I'm going to spend this season seeing what I can get under control as far as these weeds go. |
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| There are two crab apple trees in bloom now. Or that's what I think. I know one of them is a crab apple and think that's what the other one is. Time will tell. |
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| Two regular apple trees are starting to bloom, also. Since we pruned the trees up so we could mow under them, I'm not tall enough to take very good pictures of their blossoms. However, this tree obliged with a stray bloom down low. |
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| The lilac blooms are budding and should be in full bloom soon. |
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| We haven't gotten a chance to thin this shrub yet, but it starting to bloom. I'm not sure what it is. There's not good perspective on this picture, but it's about 5 feet tall if that helps anyone identity it. |
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| We have a large ornamental pear tree in the front yard that is also starting to bloom. |
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| And the cherry tree is finally blooming this week, also, |
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| We've had some very windy days recently. Enough so that the weather vane got totally blown off the top of the house. Wally came by for a visit, and he and Ward redesigned the whole thing and reinstalled it. My favorite part is they took a compass on the roof with them and oriented it correctly. :) |
Love your photos as always. Not sure if you want to go to these lengths or not, but have you seen the slinky solution to stop squirrels from getting into the birdfeeder? https://youtu.be/8QjhBKDzKcE
ReplyDeleteI've seen the Slinky video with the squirrel that's making the rounds. We tried the Slinky thing several years ago, with no luck. After a time or two the squirrel climbed right up it. However, I did have fun playing with it before we put it outside.
DeleteWell Darn! It looked so fool-proof! Oh well... You could always just give in and feed the squirrels like I do. They do tend to multiply a bit if you take that tact though! :-)
DeleteA few years ago, we tried a lot of things to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeders before we found a baffle that worked. If the problem gets worse, maybe we can find it. I haven't seen it since we moved. I don't mind the squirrels so much except keeping both the birds fed and the piggy squirrels fed with expensive bird seed is hard on the budget. And that they scare the birds away.
DeleteThe shrub you can't identify looks very much like quince. Some fruit and some are strictly ornamental
ReplyDeleteYour pictures are lovely and it looks like you are going to have a lot to work with in your yard.
I don't think I've ever seen a quince tree or for that matter ever eaten a quince. After a bit of research, I'm not sure this is a quince tree because it has many stems/branches from the bottom and not a main one like a quince tree would have. However, the blooms do look like some kind of fruit blossoms. Time will tell. If it does produce quince, it will be interesting to taste one.
DeleteWe are greening up here too, but not as much as you are. It's so fun to watch spring unfold. Plants pop overnight! We are supposed to have a warm weekend (60s and 70s) so I anticipate even more plants to open. Is it fun to make new discoveries in your yard?
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to make discoveries in the new yard. And I am not comparing things so much to the old yard as I was. I'm starting to appreciate what this yard has to offer even though I still miss things from before.
DeleteThat slinky videos was hysterical! I love it when a squirrel gets thwarted! Last year I saw one trying to climb the post to my feeder after I had put Vaseline on it and he kept on sliding down (I don't think I have a video of it, though) and I couldn't stop laughing! Now small trees have grown near the feeders so they hop on the trees and just jump on the feeders. I kind of like the trees and where the feeders are so I just chase them when I see them. And I buy the very cheap bird seed (20 lbs for $1.99 at Aldi last week, I should have just bought the whole stock!).
ReplyDeleteI love all the pictures you posted, and yes,even the one of the pesky squirrel, lol. Such pretty colors and flowers. And the little tower with the compass and weather vane on your roof is so cute! Kudos to your husband and son to have fixed everything without breaking their necks or anything else, your roof looks steep!
A word of caution. I had a bird feeder in a flower bed and used the mixed seed. It seeded some invasive grasses that I never got rid of. Now I only use seeds that I won't worry if they sprout. If you feeders are in areas where you regularly mow, you'll probably be fine.
DeleteI like the cupola and weather vane also. I won't say that it was what sold the house to me, but it certainly didn't hurt.
Your garden is looking so lovely already! Lots of flowers for you to find! That bed with the periwinkles and grape hyacinths is very striking. Loved the photo of the squirrel up the pole! I tend to have a soft spot for squirrels! When I was growing up, we didn't have a tooth fairy, we had a tooth squirrel! We tossed the tooth that fell up on the roof for the squirrel to take and give us a strong new tooth in return! I wonder if your pink flowered shrub is a dogwood tree? I couldn't tell if the flowers have 4 petals or not from the picture.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard the story about the Tooth Squirrel before. It's so interesting to hear traditions of different cultures.
DeleteI do know what a dogwood looks like. It's my favorite flowering tree in the spring and this is not it. However, there are two dogwoods in the front yard that have buds on them.
My cherry finally bloomed, but one day before our biggest windstorm of spring. Most blossoms became a flurry of cherry blossom snow as they cascaded off the tree into the yard and driveway. I don't know if any got pollinated before they were gone. That squirrel is doing gymnastics to get to the seed!
ReplyDeleteI hope the blossoms got pollinated before the storm. I love when the petals fall in the spring. It's just like pink snow.
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