Thursday, April 10, 2008

April showers

I should have taken greater advantage of yesterday's pleasant temps to walk Sophie longer. But I was wrapped up in filing a whole bunch of papers and getting stuff organized, and when that kind of mood strikes, you have to go with it.
What awaited us outside was more lovely spring blooms. Blue things! I am not sure what these are. Squill on the left? Hyacinth on the right? Do you know?

The neighbors have a whole row of these funny dwarf weeping trees. The trees look most interesting in the winter and spring, before they've leafed out. In the summer they're just big green blobs.
I didn't realize until yesterday that they flower, too.
If I lived there, I would have cut off some of the branches yesterday to arrange in vases inside. You'll see why below.
Just as I often have to pause in my walks while Sophie investigates smells, she is used to waiting for me and my distractions. I needed to get my fix of color, since I knew this is what those daffodils would look like today:
Yep, it's comin' down! I'll even have to break out the shovel, but I won't be too thorough. It's all going to melt this weekend.

7 comments:

  1. Oh that's got to be depressing! It doesn't snow here but it's been colder than usual for this time of year. They are saying it should be in the 80's to 90's this weekend and I'm like "bring it on!" So ready to shed the sweatshirts!

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  2. You have way more blooms than I do; my daffies are barely peeking out of the ground. And we woke up to white and blowing snow this morning! I am SO ready for real Spring and some serious gardening.

    Dani

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  3. I love to take photos on my walks when it's light enough. Beautiful bulbs! Yep -- Siberian squill and common garden hyacynth. I'll bet the hyacynth has quite the fragrance! The tree looks like a weeping cherry...We used to cut fruit tree branches when they were budding to force the blooms inside the house. So pretty!

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  4. I've never heard of squill before, but they are lovely. I should take a leaf from your book and spend a day catching up on paperwork here!
    G :O)

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  5. Yikes. We were just in d-town and I optimistically cleared out all of the dead leaves and whatnot out of our garden. I totally should have known it was still too early, argh...

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  6. Oh, those weeping trees have got to be weeping peaches. I saw a ton of weeping peaches, cherries, apples, pussy willows and much more at an Oregon nursery last week!
    They need to be trimmed up at the bottom to really highlight the beauty of these trees. If the branches grow to the ground, they look just look like a big messy bush when they leaf out.
    Kitt, go out there with your clippers and help them out!

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  7. I wish I could take my clippers to them, Diane. I have yet to meet those neighbors, but I've wanted to because their house is sort of a companion to mine (built in the same era at opposite ends of the block). I don't know if thee are fruiting trees, though. I don't recall ever seeing any on them.

    Jen, don't worry about doing yard cleanup too early. I did mine ages ago. This kind of snow barely lasts a day. It's just good moisture.

    Julie and Dani, warm weather is on its way!

    Thanks for the ID confirmation, Kelly. I didn't get down close enough to smell the hyacinth. I'll have to check later. I always take my camera on walks in case I see something interesting! Even after dark.

    Gina, organization is not my strong suit, so if I get in the mood to file, I do as much as I can.

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