Wednesday, March 24, 2010

...spring has definitely sprung, part 1

everyone's in agreement..."there's something in the air..."
many are not sure what is causing the headaches & sinus problems...
but I've got a pretty good idea of what is vexing me...



the "very large" & thriving, pin oak tree I planted in my back yard...
with my own 2 hands just about 20 years ago...
it's blooming and wafting pollen everywhere...
I wash off my car & 24 windy hours later...
a thick coat of pollen is back...

there may be "showers" next week...
I, for one would welcome the washing away of all this itchy yellow dust...
otherwise, it remains, along with the dead oak "blossoms"...
that collect everywhere, staying in gutters & on the roof for months...



on the other hand, my weeping cherry is finally blooming...
other, more mature ones in the area have been blooming for a while...



the "trumpet jade" is budding out, happy in the spring sun...
I'll have to move it before the sun gets more intense or it will burn...



the "crystal palace" lobelia that survived the winter...
has put on a burst of new growth...
soon to be joined by some new seedlings...



the roses, which never got cut back, are in full growth...



with some already budding...
[this yellow was also the last to bloom last fall...]



meanwhile, 6 packs of lobelias, portulacas & begonias...
await transplantation into the front porch pots for the summer/fall...



and speaking of work...[ARGH...]
there are leaves to gather & dispose of...
the driveway is full of them...



and looking around in the back patio isn't much better...



though I did manage to get a re-fill for my propane tank...
and re-attach it successfully to my grill...
so I can reward myself with a grilled meal after I do all this work...



these mums need cutting back...



while the flower box by the fence needs to be cleaned out...
[there are some hold-overs from last year...]



and as you can see, here are some zinnias & marigolds...
ready to go in next to the survivors...
I'll also put some lobelia & portulacas here too...
and eventually, some salvia if the hold-overs don't bloom...
the shade is so deep here now that I may have some issues with enough sun...

more to come...

2 comments:

The Calico Quilter said...

I couldn't tell from the picture- are those leaves from the pin oak tree? I can sympathise with oak leaf overload because I just did my spring cleanup from the red oak at my front door. The darned things don't compost, don't mulch, don't chop up with the mower. They just lie there, probably forever and ever amen unless you bag them up! Aggravating things. But isn't it lovely to get outdoors and shake off the winter blues?

catsinger said...

...hi Calico... glad to hear from you...
yes, they are mostly oak leaves...pin and Valley oak...along with some peach, cherry, pomegranate, lilac & lots of Japanese maple...
we had a lot of rain after the cold snap, so I didn't get out to clean-up anything... and am paying now...if I was energetic, I'd try composting, but you're right, oak leaves don't compost well...so I'll be raking & bagging[& sneezing...a lot] for a while...
but it is really nice to be "out"...
and to watch the earth wake-up...
Happy spring & Easter to you...