… and my nose is dripping
and my eyes are itching…
and my throat is rasping…
Aah, spring has sprung! But at least it’s lovely to look at.
The wild currant flowers are available in several colors, and I am told the currants are edible. The birds beat me to them last year. Perhaps planting this shrub directly beside the bird feeder was not the most brilliant idea. Love the cascades of tiny flowers.
At least I had a two-year respite from allergies when we first moved to CA, during which my sinuses apparently were so confused by the brand new assortment of pollens and fungi and mold that it took several seasons for my allergies to reassert themselves. Thank god for small favors. And that includes the bleeding hearts, which are making their delicate return in the shade bed.
Every few days I find myself wandering around the garden, camera in hand, inspecting every corner for the latest developments. Don’t know where these grape hyacinths originated since I’m certain I didn’t plant them, but every year they reappear.
Brilliant dabs of orange are sprouting up all over the garden, and I do mean everywhere, because my interfering dear, helpful husband decided they were so pretty it would be a great idea to cull and scatter the seeds around the garden after they finished blooming last year. Not usually one to assume the role of Mother Nature’s right-hand man, he nonetheless managed to repopulate the planet with California poppies more successfully than nature ever intended. Never before have I considered poppies – weeds, really, in this environment – an actual groundcover candidate, but this year I am being forced to revise my opinion of their suitability… even after pulling out at least as many as I left in the ground. I’ll be interested to see which colors make the boldest show: there were lots of the orange last year, but we also had unexpected clusters of pure white and of a delicate pink. I won’t mind at all if those turn up in some new locations.
And finally, I’ve realized that my one-year anniversary of this blog passed a couple of weeks ago with no commemoration from me (nor, I confess, with even my realization that it happened), but looking back over my posts I can already see that this year is getting off to a great start. More happening in my knitting projects, and as the garden matures there is definitely more to talk about there, too. 2008 promises to be full of photos and blogging!
Such pretty pictures! I live so far north that nothing is blooming yet (we still have 6 inches of snow on the ground). Anyway, it’s sad that such a lovely time of year can make so many people sick. But as you say, at least it’s pretty!
~Margaret