Tranquility

This is my lazy post of spring pictures; that way I'm only required to write captions. Since I have no seedlings to show off, I'll instead show the color and progress of my outside obsession as of last night.

I really enjoyed snapping these pictures. The weather was beautiful and there was a nice breeze. And, despite so much being taken from our backyard, there's still lots of beauty left to enjoy ...


Here is Ryan's tree. It's a Japanese Maple variety called "Lionheart." It was the only one of its kind last fall at the nursery and both Mike and I immediately fell in love with it. Beside the physical uniqueness of the tree, we felt the name was fitting since Ryan was a little Leo and the "heart" part of the name goes without saying. (And, please pardon my weeds in the background - someone forgot to do the trimming last weekend. Oops!)


The leaves on his tree are so delicate that I decided to include a close-up that shows better detail.


Here is our newest tree, a Pin Oak. It's been in the ground just a few weeks, but it is flourishing! We hung a thistle sock from the support post, and the golden finches can't stay away from it. Maybe they think we added this tree so they'd have an additional place to roost.


Do you see it?


In case you didn't see him (or her) in the other picture, here's a good profile shot. Darn toad scared the crap out of me when it jumped into one of my gardens. They're everywhere in our yard, but it still catches me off guard since they blend so well.


My first daylily blooms!


I got this rose on clearance in Fall 2004, just before I found out I was pregnant with Ryan. The variety is Chrysler Imperial and I've been extremely pleased with the hardiness of this rose. I haven't given it any special care - just rose food - but it's doing wonderfully well and smells so nice.


I can't remember the variety of this rose, but it was another clearance purchase. When I bought it last fall, the blooms were mostly cream and the tips of the petals were "dipped" with pink. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this gigantic bloom of mostly pink!


This rose - another name which escapes me - was planted just a month ago, and I'm so happy to see a bloom so soon. The particular garden where my roses are planted must have some magic dust in the soil since they grow so healthfully in that spot.

That's all. Hope you enjoyed them as much as I do! = )

P.S. Yes, I'm addicted to buying the "Charlie Brown Christmas tree" version of plants so I can nurture them back to health. They're usually a bargain and with a little TLC, I end up with beautiful plants without spending a fortune.