Upside Ann

  This is the first blooming of the Easter lilies that were part of my mother's life celebration in 2024.  I didn't expect to ever see them again - since they didn't bloom in 2025.  They stand a bit short - but don't we all. Additionally, there is this new geranium.  I knocked a flower off a few weeks ago accidently, so I placed it along with it's one remaining leaf in a glass of water.  It grew roots and so I planted it in this small terra cotta pot.  Now, it has 4- count 'em - 4 new leaves!   Note- this is our last Spring on Harrison.  Next week we will enter, Summer.

We have hit upon one of my favorite points in spring - the blooming of the peonies.  When I lived in Columbus and was attending vet school, I lived in a house that had a garden bed of peonies planted behind the garage.  Pink peonies.  Dark-red peonies.  Delicate white peonies tipped in pale pink.  When I had to leave that house, I attempted to dig up starts and brought them to Harrison.  I planted them near the back deck, at the back door, and in the fence row.  Zelda, in her eccentric doggy way, would meditate under the heavy blooms  or sit with a delicate bud held gently in her mouth.   Now, the only color I have is pink...though I guess you can't appreciate that from the photo above.  The plants by the deck did not survive the deep shadow that was created when the spruce trees grew.  The plants at the fence row got mowed over one-too-many times.  But the plant at the side door to the garage explodes each spring still: h...

  Trying something new:  saxifrage   Supposedly rabbits don't like to eat this. We shall see.  Spring on Harrison, 2026

  Crab apple blossoms.  Spring on Harrison 3.   (Actually, I'm almost a week late here.  This crab apple has finished blooming. The one below is some sort form honeysuckle bush that I remember my grandparents planting in our yard.  It is now gnarly and split but every spring blesses us with these sweet smelling blossoms.

 As Alexa keeps warning me that frost or freezing temperatures may be coming, I have harvested lilac blossums.  I am fairly certain this is Miss Kim.  I know it was planted by Renee and Sam on the south side of the house.  Unlike the old fashioned lilacs around the deck, it gets lots of sun.  Unfortunately, it is very much NOT protected from wintery turns in spring and often we have no flowers.  This year it is full.  If you stop by before that expected freeze, I will share.

When I moved from Columbus to Fayetteville, I transplanted a few starts of the beautiful peonies that grew in my garden.  Red. White.  Pink.  Beside the deck one of the plants thrived for a short time.  Zelda, as her want, would meditate under the heavy blossums.  Maybe the shade grew too deep, but the peony died.  The bonus violets, however, have thrived.  They are all over the yard here now.  They fill my heart in the spring.  (Free starts for everyone!)