Wet and Wonderful

It's been raining all week, the ground is soaked, the grass is growing like there's no tomorrow and the perennials, shrubs and trees are happy, happy, happy....... and, come to think of it, so am I.

I took a walk around the other morning on my way to work.  The light was perfect and the plants were shining and dripping with rain drops.



Caragana Aborenscens 'Pendula'


This weeping Siberian Pea Tree resides along the front walkway and is just starting to bloom.
In another week this 4 1/2 foot zone 3 hardy tree will be loaded with yellow blooms and likewise with buzzing bees happily doing their thing.

I love this little weeper and so do all the birds that visit the feeder just a couple of feet away by using it as a stop over to the feeder or to crack open their seeds.




All the crabapple trees in town at the bottom of the hill are in full bloom but here at about 300' higher elevation the crabs are just starting to 'show face'.

Malus 'Red Jade'

This crabapple is loaded with 'cherry bomb' buds and looks as beautiful now as it will in a few days in full bloom.
(by the way; be sure to click on the photos to see the larger view)
Once buds break on the crabapple tree's branches, the growing season for the tree begins.


Hostas grow from rhizomes or 'shoots' where each shoot represents a leaf.  Grown for their foliage there are thousands of different varieties in size and foliar diversity.

This is Hosta 'Loyalist' unfurling along the front walkway surrounded by 'John Creech' Sedum.

Hosta 'Loyalist'

A sport of the famous H. 'Patriot' with reverse variegation; leaves have deep green margins and nearly pure white centers.
While the plant prefers part to full shade; this one does just fine out in full sun.

Fothergilla Gardenii

Meanwhile, dwarf fothergilla is just beginning its show.
I only wish I could upload the soft feel of the flowering stamens  (white filaments and yellowish anthers) as well as its fragrance.

Phlox Subulata 'Blue Emerald'

The creeping phlox in the perennial bed in front of my vegetable garden creates a carpet of color about 3' wide each spring.
The flowers are five-petaled (with each petal notched at its apex) and varieties come in vibrant shades of pink, red, lavendar, blue-purple, or white.

Each flower measures just under an inch proving once again that good things come in small packages. 
The biggest challenge with this easy to grow perennial is weeding.  It's thick matted nature makes it difficult to get to anything growing up through the matt.  What I try to do is lift the plant up from underneath to get to the encroaching weed.  Sometimes it works...sometimes it's impossibly tedious..and sometimes I just give up ("resistance is futile").