His name isn’t really Basil, but I’ve decided to call him Basil because I am not growing basil this year, and I don’t want to put the stone in front of the lavender plant because that’s not accurate.
This is my mom’s pig. He’s rather old and he’s spent all of his life outside through all of the seasons, so he’s a bit weathered. I’ve recently started bringing him into the shed for the winter, so he doesn’t completely fall apart. (Relatable, am I right?)
Last week during a nice spell of weather, I sat on the front porch step and studied Basil. He almost has a human-like expression, and if a garden ornament has kind eyes, he does.
So what do I do when I see something that interests me? That’s right, I grab my phone and capture a photo or two. If it’s butterflies, maybe ten.
Without further ado, say hello to Basil. He is friendly and a great listener.
Gentle piggyHis smile shows here Look at the eyes on this pig – so well done!
The flowers are blossoming, and the critters are crittering.
First coreopsis bloomClematis in full bloomTiger Lillies are in bloomThe hydrangea are in bloom Pretty colorsHundreds of baby lightning bugs/fireflies live in my grass – I’m avoiding stepping in the grass so I don’t squash them! Bunny doing bunny things
I’ve been capturing a lot of flowers lately. We’re still waiting on the Calla lilies, the daisies, the clematis and the hydrangea. Everything else is blooming or almost done blooming. Special bonus photos at the bottom.
DIANTHUS!!! (Yes, I’m yelling – look at this thing!)White peony with dashes of pink. Yes, they smell divine. Unfortunately, the rains have decimated the peonies. This is my lavender seedling. Unfortunately, the rains have caused this little guy to struggle. Lavender does not like a lot of rain, and that’s all the skies are giving.BLUE HASTA is taking up so much space I had to clip some of the leaves in the back of the plant so that the Calla lilies could survive. They are not quite blooming.Wild strawberry growing amongst the clover.Coral-colored rose. Yes, it smells divine.Susie watching birds.Ma’am. I can’t resist her little hands folded like that. Yesterday we almost had a crisis, however. Ma’am was over-eager for the peanuts and tried to enter the house. Crisis averted.Don’t ask me how, but I captured this male cardinal in mid-flight. He loves peanuts. He will yell at me through the window if he sees me in the house. He doesn’t go to bed until very late, and will yell at me until about 8:30pm. I yell back that he should be in bed by now, he’s a bird.
To cheer myself up, I’m going to do a photo dump of my plant children. There are a couple of surprises this spring.
My mom’s cherry tree has cherries! No, they are not edible – at least not to humans, but the birds will enjoy them.The first light pink rose of the season – pardon her appearance, she is drenched by the rains that won’t stop. But she still smells just as sweet.I believe these are the Sweet William variety of Dianthus. I transplanted this from the back to the front flower bed and it’s very grand. When it’s in full bloom, it will be something spectacular. I noticed these blooms today for the first time.This is the panned out version of the above plant. I like to call this DIANTHUS (along the same line as CHRIS the cactus). This Dianthus means business! This is a potted dianthus that never dies over winter, no matter what. I think it’s been in this pot for about eight years.These are one bunch of Calla lilies coming up. These are bright pink and the squirrels put them here. Luckily the squirrels lined them up exactly with the post so they’re not off center. I planted a dark purple Calla lily last year, and about five plants are shooting up right now.This is a blue HASTA. Again, the caps are necessary because this is a ginormous plant. The dark purple Calla lilies I just mentioned? They’re behind this guy. I had to trim off five or six leaves so they would get some sun. Stay tuned for more on this drama.This is a PEONY, with an honorable mention Iris in the background. I’m not a big fan of Iris, but I found out two days ago. They actually smell really nice. I had no idea that even had a scent. This is a coreopsis – he’ll be pale yellow when he blooms.This is my baby lavender. I grew him from seed starting in the fall, and he’s been hanging out in the house until today. When I removed the pot that he was in, I smelled the lavender scent. I hope he survives. This is a Dogwood tree stump. This tree died in 2021 and was cut down, as you can see. Today, I discovered this sapling growing from the old stump. I put a cage around it and I’ll see what happens. The flowers of the original tree were white, so if this survives it will be the same.While I was still mucking about in the dirt, I found this Japanese maple growing. It’s not in a bad spot to have a tree, so I put a cage around it. We’ll see what happens.Last, but certainly not least, here is ERJ, with his new leaves. Isn’t he handsome?
This African violet used to have lavender petals, but it’s been doing this thing for the past couple of years where it has lavender hearts on white petals. I’m not complaining.This is a random black squirrel that lived on the property next to my former employer. I’d seen a white squirrel before, but I’d never seen a black one before this.This is my best bud, Bubba. He sat on this armchair like this frequently. This is what an armchair is for, right?Contemplating his next chaotic undertaking, or spotting one of his siblings or mother. He was a silly boy. A ladybug stopped by to visit me.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a great day!
No politics on my blog. My blog is a sanctuary for me. If I want controversy, I know where to find it.
🌸🌺🌼
Here’s a photo of one of my clematis blooming. It’s actually the only one blooming right now, and this tiny plant has never had such a large bloom. I think it might be its only bloom. I like to get artsy with the photos, so there are two close-ups.
I wrote about William last fall. He has been doing his thing all winter, and he withstood a tornado. Although he did shed a few limbs, he seems unscathed overall.
This week William has decided to participate in the pollination of the entire neighborhood. The winds are a bit gusty, so William is trying to populate everything, basically. My next-door neighbor asked me today what kind of tree he is. I could tell she was annoyed by all of his spring activities – i.e. dropping seed pods. I told her he is a Willow Oak and many years ago, my mother thought her beloved Birch trees were dropping these pods, so she had them all cut down. It turns out, William was dropping the pods. My mother was upset about that for many years. She didn’t like William. William is a big boy, it would take a crane and many thousands of dollars to remove him. So William stays, and the bigger he gets, the more seeds drop. Everywhere. You can’t go outside without getting rained on by seed pods these days. They clog rain gutters, they form piles of tumbleweed looking things, and they get under your wiper blades. I think birds use them for their nests, though. But they can’t take a bath in the birdbath because it’s filled with William’s pods.
I was out front fussing with the clematis this morning when two (other) neighbors walked past and talked amongst themselves about these pods being everywhere. I didn’t say a word, except a good morning when the greeting was offered to me. I kept my eyes down and focused on my task. When I was done, I walked in my house and shook my hair. Twelve seed pods fell out. Thanks, William.
William’s seed podsThe man himself. If you look closely, you might be able to see him dropping seed pods like it’s a game – silly William
Oh – one more thing: for the past several years, there has been a toad living in my backyard. When I had all the English ivy eradicated last fall, I was worried that the toad might have been adversely affected. I am happy to report that Toady McToaderson is back and apparently in fine health. Today is the first day I have heard him singing his dulcet sounds to the lady toads. Welcome back, Toady.
Toady McToaderson, 2021, seen here next to ERJ II. He makes his home in this region, and he does *not* like his photo taken
“It's Amy,” I said. 