It's that wonderful time of the year when everything just wants to grow. The extreme hot and cold temperatures aren't present and the rain is plentiful. In fact, maybe a little too plentiful. I've been working a lot outside, but have to plan everything carefully between the rain storms. The grass is lush and we have to mow twice a week now.
Having gone through one season at our new house, I'm starting to understand the yard a little better. There are invasive plants in every bed, but I think we're making progress against them. We still have poison ivy, but we have eliminated it from several areas. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, but for now, here are somethings I saw recently during a Second Look.
 |
| The pansies I planted last fall are actually gone now. I recently replaced them with begonias. |
 |
| The iris are almost gone. I've started to divide and move them because they have grown into the fence enough that we can't shut the gate. |
 |
| The rain brought out mushrooms of various kinds. |
 |
| I hope the coral bells continue to bloom most of the summer like they did last year. |
 |
| As I do for the purple sage. |
 |
| A few poppies emerged above the ground covers to bloom. There are several other flowers in there that have been overtaken. Someday I hope to move them. |
 |
| I have pulled several beginning oak trees from the beds. I always get excited when I see the acorn still attached. This acorn was gone the next day. Maybe a squirrel come back to claim it. |
 |
| I showed you this pileated woodpecker the other day. I forgot to mention that it was a female. You can tell by the stripe by the beak. In females, it is black. In males, it is red. |
 |
| While I recently saw the "rare" pileated woodpecker, the most common bird at our feeder is the house finch. |
