My kitty is so cute!!!
Today I went outside to take some more photos of the flowers that have been blooming and all the work I've been doing in the yard. I've mentioned in previous posts that I do most of my yard work in the Spring. The main reason I do this is because by May, the sun will be high in the sky, the clouds will move on, and the temperatures will be too hot for me to work outside.
I sometimes continue to work into the summer, but if I do, I will need to get outside before the sun starts to rise and the bees take over the garden; otherwise I won't get much done. This week I noticed the Sweet Williams were blooming. The Sweet Williams were the easiest flowers I have ever grown. Easy meaning all I have done for them is plant them in the ground. They grow and bloom even in dry seasons.
I grew these from seed, and they bloom in pink, white, and burgundy. The burgundy were the first ones to bloom this year.
Both my yellow rose bushes, and my climbing roses have begun to bloom. The yellow roses had bloomed just a few flowers and had already lost their petals before I had a chance to take any photos. But no worries. They will continue to flower the rest of the season, and soon the bush will be covered in fragrant yellow roses, and I will be able to clip them and bring them inside to display them in a vase.
The climbing roses have been moved several times but they continue to bloom every year. They are not fragrant, but they are very pretty and will remain blooming most the year.
One of my azaleas is still blooming. They did not attract very many butterflies this year because of the rain and the cold weather that has been popping in here and there, but the bees have been very busy. This group of azaleas were placed in the middle of the yard because I ran out of space for them. We have tried many things for this spot in the yard. We once had a bench here and trees. I set up bird feeders and the birds would fly in and out.
We also placed a cactus here, but it proved to be too big for the spot. We removed the bench, cut down the trees, then threw all of the plants in one spot so we can mow around them. I still need to add fresh pine straw around them. But that's for another day. The cactus and the yuccas will look more alive once the summer heat kicks on.
Most of my Spring clean-up of the yard consists of raking pine straw from one place to another. When you live in the woods, you have to do some yard work so that you don't get closed in. Each year we clear a little more of the surrounding woods so that the unwanted plants don't get over grown and take over. And they will! The blackberry bushes grow wild, which is nice on the outskirts of the yard, but if a garden is unattended long enough, the vines will take over and strangle the other plants.
I rake away as much of the fallen pine straw and dead leaves from around the house, hoping that new grass will grow. I used to do the entire yard, but as the years passed, I have raked less of the yard, and we are happy with the amount of grass we have growing around the house. This also help to lessen the amount of leaves that get tracked into the house. I can then use most of the fallen pine straw to cover the ground around my plants to keep the weeds down.
Another reason I do all this work is because most of my windows face this side of the house, and it looks nice when it is all cleaned up. I had always hoped to put more flowers on this side of the house, but most of the plants I have been growing are sun-loving, and this is the west side of the house which only gets the evening sun. One day I will try to grow some shade plants on this side.
My husband does the rest of the yard work by mowing and weed eating. When we first moved here, we tried to do all different things in the yard, but as time goes on we find the simpler the better. Where we live there are lots of storms, and cute little yard ornaments become objects that can fly through the window with enough wind, so they are avoided. Mostly everything gets covered with mold too, the less furniture outside, the less I have to clean each year.
Soon, the grass will fill in and this clean yard will be once again be in need of a trim and some weed pulling. It's a lot of work, but as you can see it can be worth it just to have a peaceful and pleasant place to call home.
If you ever consider moving to the woods, be sure to get a cat. Not only will they follow you around and give you plenty of photographing opportunities, but they will catch the mice and keep the snakes away.
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