Bloom Day - April 2015

I've got blooms again after a long winter.  I haven't tried to participate in the garden bloggers Bloom Day posts since last fall.  But now that I have something to share, I'm going to start posting again. If you haven't heard of it, Bloom Day is the 15th of the month and is a chance for garden bloggers to share what is in bloom. It is hosted by May Dreams Garden blog - an entertaining and fanciful blog full of the exploits of her garden fairies.

I recently got a new camera and have been taking a lot of pictures as I learn the new capabilities of the camera. So, I don't want to limit myself to just pictures from one day. In my reading, one of the suggestions is to take time in post processing to capture the best image, much like it would have been done with film, in judging the exact time in the chemical baths o set color, contrast, exposure, etc.  I am taking more time and do not want to rush through a batch of snapshots when I already have a collection of images of the same subjects. So, I am going to expand the concept of bloom day to include images of what is currently in bloom, but that might have been taken before the 15th of the month.

So, on to the early bloomers in the garden this year.

Cherry Blossoms

This is iconic in the Washington DC area.  The Cherry Blossom Festival is a perennial rite of Spring as the weather finally starts feeling warm and people come out to the national mall for weeks of events celebrating the cherry blossoms.  I have two ornamental cherry trees and these pictures are from my trees; I did not go downtown to face the crowds when I could just enjoy my own yard.

Forsythia 

Some other early bloomers are the forsythia bushes.  The sun is reaching the west side of the house and the forsythia bushes are sending out their own bright beams of yellow. I have memories of forsythia at my parent's house, so I really enjoy seeing the forsythia in bloom at my house now.

Daffodils 

The third messengers of spring in our yard are the daffodils.  They were the first green we saw as we were trying to get over the late snows this year and a late ice storm.  We were looking for some sign of growth and saw the tips of the daffodil leaves breaking through the brown.  The daffodils are up now and we are beginning to see sprouts for the irises, buds on the dogwood, the red maple, and the lilac.  They're coming, but right now I'm enjoying the early bloomers.

I am not planning on repeating last summer's project of semi-monthly garden panoramas. I have the pictures from last year printed out with a diagram of the yard in a binder for reference purposes now.  I might try again in a few years as the garden changes and grows in the future.  This summer will be close enough to last year that I don't think I'll need a new set of images.

Family pictures (sort of...)

In March, I got a new camera, and of course I had to start testing out the new capabilities of the camera and needed willing (or not) models for my efforts. In the last month, I've gotten a lot of pictures of the kids - our four rescued cocker spaniels. Three of them came from Oldies But Goodies Cocker Spaniel Rescue and one from Tired Dog Rescue

Truman

Truman has been with us the longest and is finally enjoying his spot as the senior member of the pack.  We call him our James Cagney because he is the smallest one, but he's the alpha - he's feisty.

He's very protective - especially of Gloria, and he's the one who gets the whole gang barking in the morning when he decides it's breakfast time (never mind what Mommy or Daddy, or the alarm clock say.)

But he doesn't like rain or snow very much.

Jacques

Jacques came to us from Tired Dog Rescue in Mississippi. We call him our southern gentleman. He had one eye removed, and the other is almost blind from glaucoma, so he doesn't go running with the others when they are let out. He is a quieter soul and makes his way around, but not in any rush.

 He's a beautiful boy who loves to sit on a lap (Mommy or Daddy) and get loving and give kisses.

I caught him shaking his ears - and then trying to be cool; like it never happened.

Buddy Bear

Buddy Bear has been with us the least amount of time (by a couple weeks less than Jacques.)  Buddy is funny because he's so mellow that it can be hard to get a picture of him with his eyes open. If he's standing still for more than just a couple of minutes, his eyes stat to droop and he's getting ready for a nap.

He had just gotten a haircut and was outside running around. 

Truman and Buddy Bear checking out some traffic on the street and making sure that the yard was safe.

OK, he's been sitting still for long enough - time for a nap.

Precious

Now let me introduce our Diva. Precious is the lady of the group and she is a DIVA. Along with Truman, she is one of the ones to start the whole pack barking.  She loves, loves, loves racing out the back door and doing circles around the back yard.  Along with her not liking to stand still, her coat makes it a challenge to get good pictures.

Oh Daddy, are you trying to get another picture?

I am definitely her person. When I go to sit in my recliner in the evenings she is jumping into my lap before I'm even sitting down.

So these are the key Rescue elements of my Rescue Garden who are with us now. Their predecessors have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but we'll all be together again in our Father's house.

Late Winter Update on What's Growing

It's early March now and we have been weathering the storms, and I haven't been posting much to the blog recently. But I have still been poking my head out and taking pictures.  But mostly when I look outside lately I see variations on this:

 

Not that that is bad, but any thoughts of spending time outside doing anything other than playing with the snowblower gets a chilly reception.  Of course, I could look to the other side of the yard...

I have been able to find a few things growing though.

My crop of ice has been renewing and growing steadily, I'm afraid that it's an invasive species and will overtake my native plants.

The boxwood in the front yard show significant signs of being overwhelmed.

Under the ice are cherry blossom buds. I hope they were not damaged by the glazing ice.

This is the Red Maple in the backyard. I'm afraid the ice is invading and overwhelming everything. 

I did see the rosemary bush trying to make it through its first winter. 

I guess I'll retreat to the inside and enjoy...

A fire in the fireplace.