We are experiencing typical spring weather which means it cycles from hot and humid to cool and breezy and back to hot again. With every change, rain is sprinkled in here and there. This has been good growing weather for almost everything. The grass and its accompanying weeds have been growing like crazy and we've needed to mow at least twice a week. The trees are leafed out with only a few blooms left on them. I continue to discover new things popping up in the yard which is a lot of fun. I just wish they weren't encased in ground cover vines or poison ivy. A challenging problem to solve for sure.
Here are a few things a saw this week
during a Second Look.
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| While most of the trees have lost their blooms, these azaleas are still providing lots of color. The bushes are on the side of the house and looked like they haven't had much attention except some trimming of deadwood I did earlier. However, neglect must be good, because they are really pretty. |
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| Corral bells are blooming on the other side of the house. I can't pass them without singing White Coral Bells. Now I need to find someone to sing this with me in a round. |
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| A salvia plant has also started to bloom in that bed. |
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| The back corner bed is the one that intrigues me the most. Three planted ground covers plus poison ivy thoroughly cover everything. So when I discover a plant or one grows above the background vines, it is truly a fun surprise. |
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| Recently discovered are these poppies. I see buds, so they may be blooming soon. Poppies are known for seeding and spreading like crazy. However, I think there's too much shade or ground cover here for that to happen. Also notice the vinca vines' purple flowers on the right. |
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The dianthus I uncovered last week has started to bloom.
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| Remember Miss Annie Laurie's hellebore? It needs shade, so it was planted it in this bed. I moved it from the old house and it spent the winter in a pot. It suffered another assault when I accidentally dropped it head first into the hole I dug. However, just like before it seems to be rallying. |
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| No eggs in the nest yet, but there continues to be work on it. |
The first thing I thought of, even before I saw what you had written, was the song White Coral Bells. I'd sing it in a round with you! :)
ReplyDeleteHow DO you get rid of poison ivy?
Once it's established, it next to impossible to get rid of it. At our other place, we kept it under control by spraying but it was always there. I'm looking for someone now who will come in on a regular spraying schedule to see what we can do to get it under control. We were going to do the spraying ourselves, but the patches are so big that we'd have to walk in it to get to all of it. We had a lot of the vines pulled last winter, but of course many were missed because they didn't have leaves.
DeleteBesides "White Coral Bells", I sing "Down Yonder Green Valley" all of the time. We live close to the Green Valley community, so I get reminded of the song a lot. In fact, I'm almost Pavlov's dog with both of those songs. Luckily, Ward doesn't complain.
Instead of singing the rounds I am belting out "Poisin Ivy'
ReplyDeleteI didn't remember that song, but after a listen I may be belting it too every time I walk into backyard. "...it's going to take an ocean of calamine lotion."
DeleteYour yard is lovely - I love the photo of the tree and ground cover. My crabapple is blooming away but with all the rain we've been getting I can't get out to enjoy it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you have good views out your window to see the crabapple tree. They are really pretty when they're blooming. I really want to get more into that corner bed, but every time I turn around I see another vine of poison ivy sticking up.
DeleteHa, ha, I'll sing "White coral bells" and "Poison Ivy" with you! Your garden is so nice and green! What fun to be discovering all the plants!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that it looks green compared to what you've been seeing with the drought. Also, maybe we should form a virtual blog chorus.
DeleteI don't know that song, but will look it up. Poison Ivy, yikes! We have poison oak here, and...stinging nettles. When I feed the cats in the county park sometimes I forget about the nettles there, and get the welts, then the electric prickles for hours. Nettles have been used to treat osteoarthritis, I read, and can even lower blood pressure.
ReplyDeleteWhen I used to do geologic field work, I became quite familiar with stinging nettles.Fortunately, I usually had on long pants and long sleeves and that helped a lot. I have heard that nettles can be used for medicinal purposes (like most plants) although I've never tried them.
DeleteAmazingly, I don't know either "White Coral Bells" or the Poison Ivy song! But your azaleas are beautiful. I've never seen them before - maybe they don't grow here.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is amazing that you don't know "White Coral Bells" with your background in music. It's been around forever although no one's quite sure of its origins. Most people sang it as a child including me.
DeleteAzaleas are native to the southeast forests. They have been cultivated and are used quite extensively in landscaping.
OK... I was thinking that perhaps my memory was just going bad or something - so I went on YouTube and listened to White Coral Bells and nope, never heard it. How interesting.
DeleteAnd it turns out that Azaleas are difficult to grow here mostly because our soil isn't acidic enough - probably explains why I've never seen them! Whew! At least I'm not totally losing it! :-)
I never realized that azaleas were an eastern thing until now. Learn something new every day and that's one reason why I find the blogging community so interesting.
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