More Daffodils from our Yard

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

Once Spring decided to stay in the Glade, it didn’t take long for most of our daffodils to bloom.  Both Betsy and I have enjoyed finding new blossoms in the yard each morning.

Orange Progress is the daffodil on the upper left, and Pink Charm is the daffodil on the right.  The daffodils on the lower row are (from left to right) Chromacolor, Mount Hood, and Fortissimo.

We are now enjoying tulips in bloom.  The warmer weather makes it possible for Betsy and I to spend more time working in the yard.  That’s almost as good as going on a hike.

Spring Is Busting Out All Over

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It took a while, but it looks as if Spring has finally arrived on the Cumberland Plateau.  We finally have daffodil blooming in our yard.  Five of our daffodil varieties are shown in the collage above.

The daffodil on the upper left is Pink Silk, while Spellbinder is on the upper right.  On the bottom I have Breck’s Colossal on the left, Las Vegas daffodil in the middle, and Wild Carnival.

It’s great to be able to work out in the yard and to see these beauties in blooming in the flower beds.

Busy as a Bee

A bee at work in our redbud tree, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 19, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

I went out late Monday afternoon with my macro lens to get some pictures of the redbud tree in our front yard.  When I got there I found that I wasn’t the only one interested in the blossoms.  There were bees all over the tree.

Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. March 19, 2012.

Since I’m allergic  to bee stings I thought of beating a hasty retreat, but the bees were intent on the blossoms, and as long as I stood relatively still, they just ignored me.  So I thought I would try to get some pictures of the bees at work.

The encounter with the bees was entirely unplanned, but I think I got some pretty good pictures for the experience.  And best of all, I didn’t get stung.

My World: Tiptoeing Through the Tulips

Tulips in our side flower bed, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 11, 2010.

This is my post for the My World meme.  It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

Well, we didn’t tip-toe through the tulips, but rather alongside them.  We’ve had some beautiful tulips this spring, many of them in a flower bed that Betsy and I built along the side of the house.  We also had a few tulips in the front of the house.

The weekend cold front has passed through without any frost in our area, for which we are grateful.  So I was able to return to regular Spring chores in the yard.  The cooler weather didn’t slow down the grass, so I got to mow the grass in addition to the other chores in the yard.

It’s a good thing exercise is healthy because all of the beauty of Spring also means there is always something that needs to be done in the yard.

April Is An Interesting Month

Pink dogwood in our front yard, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. April 14, 2010.

April is an interesting month, although not always in a good way.  You know how April showers bring May flowers?  Well, we’ve had practically no rain at all this month.  I’m still hoping for May flowers,  however.

We had summer-like temperatures for most of last week.  We didn’t use the air-conditioner, but we did have the house open and fans running.  So you can imagine our shock and surprise when we got home from running some errands on Saturday afternoon to discover that a frost advisory had been issued for the Plateau.  We moved our container roses into the garage just to be on the safe side.  Fortunately we didn’t have any frost and so we moved them back out yesterday.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not complaining.  We’ve had beautiful weather and beautiful flowers.  Our pink dogwood tree (above) is about as pretty as it has been since we moved here.

I am finding, however, that I must be slowing down with old age as it seems to take me longer and longer to do everything that needs to be done outside.  So If these postings become a little more sporadic than they’ve been in the past, rest assured that it is because the weather has been good and I have been working outside.  I haven’t forgotten about you and will endeavor to keep up as best as I can.

Skywatch Friday: We Found Spring

Blue Sky and Bradford Pears, Hendersonville, Tennessee.

This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world.  To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.

Yesterday Betsy and I went to Hendersonville to see my parents.  They are about as good as can be expected and we had a nice visit with them.

But in addition to seeing my parents, we also found Spring!  We live on the Plateau here in Tennessee while Hendersonville is in the ‘Nashville Bowl’.  What that means is that our house is about 1500 feet higher than my parents house.

When we left yesterday morning there were no Bradford Pears blooming here in the Glade and the Forsythia was just starting to bud out.  By the time we got off the Plateau we were seeing Bradford Pear trees in bloom all over the place.  We were also seeing blue skies, as in the photo above.

Forsythia, Hendersonville, Tennessee.

We also found Forsythia in bloom.  What a difference 1500 feet can make!

Our Prius is not a large car, but we did our best to bring Spring back up the Plateau with us.  I can hardly wait to see what today brings!

Spring, Wherefore Art Thou?

More of our roses from 2009.

We had three days of beautiful weather earlier in the week, but the last two days have been cold and rainy.  I’ve  started a couple of projects out in the yard, but I haven’t been able to make much progress.  And if this cold weather continues I’m going to need to split more wood and carry it to the garage so my Beautiful Bride will be comfortable in the evenings.

Our crocus have bloomed and are just about completely gone.  Nothing else has begun to bloom.  I will say that the grass is greening up very nicely, so I guess I will have to think about checking out the mower one of these days.

I’ve started to partially uncover the roses.  Most of them are showing signs of new growth and need to be cut back.  I won’t completely uncover the roses until I’m fairly confident that freezing temperatures are behind us.

So while I’m waiting for  Spring to get serious about coming and staying here on the Plateau, I’ll try to stay warm by remembering what the roses looked like last year.

Our First Promise of Spring

The first blossom in our yard. March 7, 2009.

The past couple of days have been very pleasant up here on the Plateau.  The weather has warmed and I was even able to work outside without a jacket yesterday.  That’s good because I certainly have plenty to do in the yard after our fairly hard winter.  In addition to  general clean up, I also have some new roses that need to be planted.  So I’ve been  outside quite a bit over the past two days.

Yesterday, while working with the roses in the front of the house, I found the crocus shown in the picture above.  It’s our very blossom of the year.  Actually it looks a little forlorn and lonely.  This is a crocus my father gave us when we first bought the house.  It’s located up against the south side of the house, so it gets more sun than any other part of our yard.  The little bed it’s in is a favorite tunneling route for our many chipmunks, so most of the bulbs that were originally planted there have long since disappeared.

But this little plant has bravely hung on.  And in so doing it has given us our first promise of spring.