Like many, I am always excited for the arrival of the month of April. After a long, cold winter, I know for sure that April will bring flowers. Bulbs will come up, flowering trees will explode with blossoms, and even when it gets chilly, winter finally begins to recede. April can be glorious!
Last fall, we were so busy moving in that we weren't ready to install a garden yet. But the house came with basic landscaping, so I was able to hurriedly plant a few daffodils and tulips. I wish I could have done more, but still, I sure was glad to see a start to my new garden. It's funny, but the tulips bloomed before the daffodils, which are only just now about to fully open. In the meantime, I have used many pansies to fill the void. I know I showed them off last month, but now that it's a bit warmer, they are really thriving.
One thing that's making our new home feel more like our old one is the arrival of various birds at my camera feeder. Plus we found a Mama Mallard nesting under the house. I sure hope she's successful at bringing forth baby ducklings. At our old house, there were often mallards nesting in my garden, and for three years running, no baby ducks ever arrived. Hoping for the best here!
Also this month, we took a vacation trip to Maui, which is a special place for us. The weather wasn't as perfect as usual, they were still reeling from Kona storms. But of course it was just as beautiful as ever, even in the rain. After a few days, the weather cleared, and the blue skies returned. When we travel there, we are always in pursuit of whatever gorgeous scenery we can find. And there's no shortage of that!
When we arrived home, spring had come to Michigan! It's been a delight to see the bright green grass and flowering trees. I discovered that whatever tree it is in the middle of my front yard, it is covered in white flowers. And those two mystery shrubs at the side of the house are some kind of lilac! The brown specks in the photo of the lilac bush are all buds, but I can't for the life of me get my camera to focus in on them. I'll have to wait till they open up, which appears to be fairly soon. We also planted our cool season crops in the planter we bought specially for this use. Yes, it's smaller than we're used to, but it's also going to be so much easier. We used seeds of radishes, green onions, lettuce, and carrots.
I drove to my favorite parks to see what spring looks like there, and found that Lower Huron Metropark is just loaded with redbuds. It was really lovely, but you had to drive through to really see them all. I also found blooming trees at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, but it looks like I missed the daffodil display. Next year I'll know to watch for them.
We found a local farm with a large tulip display, so we took that in the other day. It was lovely, but I found it pretty pricey, with LOTS of walking required. There were tons of activities for kids, and posing spots for pix. Probably won't go back again next year though. I'll leave it to the young folks.
I'll close with my usual skywatching, which includes a rainbow among the sunsets. I know I promised progress on my new garden, but it's on hold. Maybe next month! Thanks for stopping by my Nest, and I hope to see you back here at the end of May. Fingers crossed that a new garden will have begun!
