Every year is different. This year the berberis is flowering like mad!

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My Berberis hasn't bloomed, and probably won't because of the freeze. It has put out new purple leaves, and looks good. Neat pic, Marie. The flowering onions really set the pic off. I have never grown those. I wonder if they would be deer proof?

Interesting re the berberis gb. We donÂt have any but thereÂs one on the corner at the bottom of the street. This is the first year weÂve noticed that itÂs flowering. We werenÂt sure if it was unusual or whether we just hadnÂt been paying attention in previous years :- ) The neighbourÂs one is a green-foliaged one and the flowers are creamy white.

Marian  you seem to have joined some conspiracy of music that has affected me the past few days! ÂThe day the music died for me was sometime in the summer of 1997 but sometimes it reappears in my head. Thursday a friend was telling me about her 13 year old son attending a session to be assigned an instrument for the school band at the school he will be attending this fall. He was assessed and assigned to the trumpet. As I read that in her e-mail I started hearing Wynton Marsalis playing while Kathleen Battle sang on the Baroque Duet DVD from the early 1990s! (If you havenÂt heard that DVD, itÂs well worth listening to.) Then, on the way home from dinner out last night, we passed a weeping willow (Salix babylonica) growing beside a creek and Boney M.Âs Rivers of Babylon started playing in my head. While walking Misty at 7:00 this beautiful (but too hot!) sunny morning, Cat Stevens was singing ÂMorning has Broken in my head (a common occurrence while dog-walking on fine morningsÂ) And now the Byrds are singing ÂTurn, Turn, TurnÂÂ

The first of the wisteria flowers are starting to open here  itÂs going to be a poor show compared to last year. The Clematis Montana has buds too but not as many as I hoped. My poor rhododendrons that lost all but three of their flowerbuds havenÂt started to open yet. WeÂve had very little rain this spring so it appears that drought is lurking to damage what survived the winter and weird spring to date. The New Dawn roses on the south gate arbour are doing fine on the front but the ones at the back have very pale leaves even after fertilizing with both rose food and some ÂSea BoostÂ. When I did some checking on possible reasons, drought is one so I put down a new soaker hose and have been running that off and on the past two days. ThereÂs some rain (tentatively) in the forecast for Sunday  I hope it happens. There are thunderstorms around tonight but theyÂve all missed us so far. Raining into the lake isnÂt doing my garden a bit of good!

Marian - great to see your yard is coming back so nicely and you sound as though you are enjoying spring. My dawn redwood is only 4 feet (just a couple of years old from a small cutting). I hope this year it takes off. I think you would enjoy alliums. I have many varieties and they are one of the few totally deer proof (and rabbit proof) plants I grow.

GB and Woody - this is the first year my berberis hasn't bloomed. I plant yellow tulips next to it to pick up the yellow blossoms but they flowered solo. I guess frost came at the wrong time this side of the lake.

Mary

Thanks Mary. My Dawn Redwood is about 7-8 feet tall. It was at least 5' when I bought it. It isn't growing nearly as fast as I'd hoped. It was 3 or 4 years ago that I bought it.
I had some small flowering alliums, but the vinca snuffed them out! I still have chives, and flowering garlic( which reseeds everywhere! ).

Susan, I know what you mean about music and lyrics playing in your mind. I went for several days with the same hymn playing in my mind. ( Now I don't even remember which one ! )
So, it was 10 years ago when the loss of your hearing came ? So that means you have a good memory of all types of speach and music, and that you speak plainly, not like my niece...who (by the way) has another appointment for more to be done with her transplant. I sure wish some amazing 'cure' could be found for you, but I feel you are coping great as you are. As I have said before, you are a great inspiration for me.
BTW, I am not familiar with any of the songs you mentioned, except "Turn, Turn,Turn", but did not know who the artist was. ( Maybe more than one who performed it, and I had heard another? )

The first thing I thought of when I read the title of this thread was the magical 12 string of Roger McGwinn and the Byrds! I still have my hearing, but even in the quiet of the garden I can still "hear" those sounds. And so it must be for you, Woody.

Woody, such is the medium we employ here that I'd completely forgotten you are deaf. I think that's a great thing because it simply serves as a reminder that communication and appreciation of so many things know no "obstacle". And, we've had the luxury of learning about each other with fun/poignant anecdotes/observations... had you never shared your hearing loss, I'd be none the wiser. How great is that?!

Would that it was always that easy.

Good to see your "grounds" reviving so brilliantly, Marian. My peonies are going to explode with the next round of warmth and sun. I have to get busy with the string again... I loathe that task. :( (will put some shots up for you, so you may enjoy peonies "again").

I don't have Alliums, either. But admire their spectacular presence whenever I see them. I have limited space that fits the "full sun, well-drained" requirement and it's one bulb that always seems to fly under the radar for me.

Thanks Chelone,most of my color is from my container plants. I will appreciate your peony pics. Out of 12 plants 7 had no blooms, 2 had only one each. I am sure it was because of the hard freeze after they were up. I made woven wire rings to set around my plants. They 'disappear' when the plant grows back up.
My 'full sun' is becoming more and more scarce...:-(
I really like the shade in our hot summers, and our place is several degrees cooler since the trees have grown, but I do miss having sunny spots for sun lovers.

This morning I was awakened around 5, and detected the faint essence of skunk coming through my open bedroom window. So far there has been no damage to my potted plants, but this morning there was a tiny bit of digging in 2 pots. I think I'll get some cayenne pepper to sprinkle on the soil in susceptible containers. I sure do not want to have to 'cage' everything as I did last year after the damage.
Wildlife certainly abounds in our woods. Nolon heard a turkey gobbler this morning, and reported it to me, but I didn't hear it when I went out. I'm sure at least one doe has a fawn in our woods, but we haven't seen it yet. The rabbits are multiplying rapidly, but the cats are keeping the population down to more managable levels. Lots of squirrels are both seen and heard. A rather crippled, very light gray, small opposum was on the deck drinking from the cat's water bucket the other night when I flipped on the light. It looked like it had had a broken back.... I am not too fond of them, but don't like to see such injuries. Raccoons of all sizes are common. Chipmunks are frequently seen. We may not have many human visiters, but plenty of four-legged ones. :-)
And of course there are all the birds. A tuffed titmouse is voicing it's disapointment at the fact that the cat dish is not on the front porch. I keep bringing it back in as soon as Miss Calliecat leaves the porch ( it is her dish). I am getting tired of feeding all the birds cat food ! I put out mixed bird feed, sunflower seed, and cracked corn for them...besides the left over biscuits, but some of them prefer the cat food ! I am thinking of buying the really cheap cat or dog food just for them.

Our phone rang around 10 last night. It was a rather distant 'neighbor' wondering if her 81 year old brother had come by our place. He had decided to go visiting,( he lives about 60 miles from here...the sister lives much closer).He took clothing and other necessities, and mentioned visiting Nolon. I imagine she had called everyone she could think of before calling us. I hope he has shown up, and is safe.He has several relatives in this area.