Time for April

April is floriferous! Don't you just love that word, floriferous? It's just the perfect description for a month when new bulbs pop up frequently, and all the spring trees come into bloom. I wish the weather had been as delightful as the flowers, but we make do. Sometimes it was warm, sometimes it was cold. I wore sandals, I wore a fleece. On a Sunday, we hit 80, the next day there was some type of icy nonsense falling from the sky called graupel. It's erratic to say the least. Here we are about to start the delightful month of May and I can tell right now that we likely won't be planting our warm weather flowers next weekend as we usually do. Phooey. 

On the chilly, rainy days, I stayed indoors of course. There I found my Hoya houseplant in bloom, which delights me. Next I made a nice salad with the spinach and lettuce we planted last fall, which survived the winter. I also did some craft painting, and made new garden markers out of paint sticks. I also freshened up the paint on some garden knick knacks that have been gifted to me over the year, made myself a new birdhouse, and decorated more spirit stones. I leave these stones at parks wherever I go, so others can find them. I also changed out the decor on my tiered tray to reflect a gardening theme. And finally, I just had to bring in a sprig of lilac to inhale. That small sprig you see has scented my entire kitchen. 

Once the trees began to flower, I thought I'd go to Dawes Arboretum to see their many blooming trees. I was just slightly ahead of time, except for the magnolias. Magnolias are such showy beauties, and often lose their blooms to frost here in Ohio. But this year they managed to bloom fully without damage. I don't see yellow ones very often, but they have just such a thing there at Dawe's. 

At home, I spent nearly the whole month of April watching the various tulips popping up around my garden. Honestly, they were a bit crazy this year. You see, I failed to plant my tulips last fall, and instead, stuck them in the fridge all winter. Finally, on a pleasant day in February, I planted them, hoping they had been chilled enough in the fridge. Some of the bulbs were a bit bedraggled, and didn't show up at all. And some I'm still waiting for. Also, our mild winter allowed tulips from prior seasons to survive, so now I have a mix of color themes scattered about, some in ones and twos. Instead of having tulips in an orderly display, there was just tulip chaos this year. I enjoy them all, but it isn't exactly good garden design! Ah well, they don't last long, and tulips are beloved regardless. 

There were other pretty spots around the yard that didn't involve tulips. My beloved, but disabled redbud tree bloomed on, despite losing her shape in a storm last summer. I've debated replacing it, but haven't made any decisions yet. It looks fine in the photo below, doesn't it? Ah, if only you could see it from the side. It's a ridiculous one sided tree! I'm thinking of putting in a Kwanzan cherry instead, which are equally lovely. But it's hard to let this one go. 

I also have a tale to tell about this crabapple tree. When we first looked at this house there were three crabapple trees planted on the side street, in full bloom. Honestly, it was one of the reasons that we bought the place! They thrived here until a few years ago, until they began to fail, and barely bloomed. I determined that they were infested with scale insects, so we began a treatment plan. This year, they finally began to bloom again! It took persistence, but I think we conquered the scale insects, and my crabapples are starting to recover. This is what the best one looked like this year. Word of warning, scale insects infestations are common in areas where they spray for mosquitoes. 

Other bulbs and spring flowers showed up this month, and while they don't get as much fanfare as tulips, I still enjoy them. I've never met a flower I didn't love! 

As tulip season came to a peak, I thought I should see the display at Franklin Park Conservatory. Everyone else had the same idea, on the same day, including the entire Columbus Public School system, or so it seemed! I escaped to the less popular areas, and still found lots to see. 

We'll have to settle for only one sunset this month. It just wasn't a good sunset month, too many clouds and too much rain. Still, I'm glad you came by to see what's happening in my nest this April. May should be busy indeed, as it becomes time for planting the annuals. I've already started buying them, but I'm storing them in my kitchen until it stops threatening frost. My kitchen is getting overrun with flowers! Hang on my beauties, it's almost time to go live outside. Thanks for checking in at my nest, hope to see you again in May! 

March Is Where Spring Begins

March has been fairly typical here in central Ohio. We've had some pleasant days, some rainy days, a few snowflakes, with plenty of flowers arriving. But it's not really leaving like a lamb today. It's rainy and chilly instead. But since I planted pansies this week, I'm glad for the rain, because now I don't have to water. Remember, gardeners are almost always grateful for rain. 

Even though I had some early flower arrivals in February, it isn't until March that they begin in earnest. The weather hasn't always been welcoming for them, but they arrived anyway. Spring flowers are used to chilly weather, and in general, they laugh at the cold. 

Pansies are a special case, because they get freshly planted here every year, in the early spring or late winter. Those who aren't passionate gardeners are often amazed to find me planting them, because they don't understand that not all flowers appreciate warm weather. But I do, and I'm sure grateful for their wild colors in early spring, after a long winter of bland gray weather. I'm going for a yellow theme with my annuals this year, and pansies are cooperative in that regard. 

As I sorted through my photos, I find that I didn't work on crafts much this month. I suppose that's a sign of spring, when I'm outside working in the yard instead of inside crafting. But I did decorate my seasonal tiered tray as I often do, and I welcomed a mallard duck pair to the yard. They've been trying to raise a family here for several years, but we have never yet seen any ducklings. But here they are again, scouting out the place.

One small project that I did accomplish was to finally put my grandmother's teacup collection on display. They've been tucked away for many years, because I couldn't find a way to display them without it looking like a granny's house. Granted, I am a grandmother, but I didn't want it to look that way! But I did a bit of online sleuthing, and came up with the idea to use these rattan shelves to modernize them a bit. Because it's a small collection, they don't seem to come off as old fashioned displayed here on their new shelves. Grandma would be happy to see me showing them off for her. My favorite is the tiny one with a bird for a handle. Can you spot it? 

We spent time in Florida visiting my two sets of parents. They live in completely different areas, so the scenery is unique to each. We also took in our beloved Detroit Tigers during spring training. What fun! I was so tickled to see butterflies again, it's been much too long. 

And so we come to the end of March, and onward towards April. April is a favorite around here, when the world will really pop into bloom. It may be a bit chilly today, but the spring change is already starting. Soon the trees will really start to bloom, and the tulips will arrive. My heart lifts in spring, as it does for many. 

The sunsets are swinging around to my front porch again, so they've been harder to catch. When they arrived fully in front, then I'll happily catch them right off the porch. Until then, I keep watching the sky. Glad you could stop by my Nest! Will see you again next month, I hope.