An April Full of Tulips

 Funny how my March blog post still smacked of winter, and here at the end of April, it feels like summer already. It's been a month full of tulips, for the most part. There were tulips at home, and tulips on the road. And I still have the Tulip Time Festival in Holland Michigan to attend next week! 

At home, the tulips arrived in waves. Even though I carefully plan color schemes each year, sometimes it ends up being kind of a mixed bag. For the most part, I choose tulips in that year's chosen color, plus yellow. This year, I focused on white. But I never know from one year to the other if the prior year's colors will still show up. So here I am with this pretty white and yellow color scheme, then a random orange one pops up in the middle, or a pink one. I often swear that I will remove the oddballs to a different location, but instead I just wait until the old colors give out. I guess I'm an equal opportunity tulip lover! 

As summery as it has been this week, I still have the last batch of tulips in bloom. Just as they finish up here in central Ohio, I'll head north to Michigan, and see a few more. Soon my favorite flowers will  be finished for the year. Can't say I'll be sad though, as I have so many other flowers ready to take their place. Not to mention, it's time to plant my annuals, so I'll have plenty of other flowers to love. 

Besides my own tulips, I visited several tulip displays in the area, including Franklin Park Conservatory, Inniswood Metro Gardens, and Timbuk Farms. I also went to Dawe's Arboretum to see their flowering trees, but they don't do tulips, due to all the deer. 

Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Franklin Park Conservatory

Inniswood 

Inniswood

Inniswood

Timbuk Farms

Timbuk Farms

Timbuk Farms

Timbuk Farms

Dawe's Arboretum

Dawe's Arboretum

Dawe's Arboretum

Dawe's Arboretum 

Dawe's Arboretum

I do have a few other blooms besides tulips, I swear. My redbud and crabapple trees also put on their spring show.

I have a decorative birdhouse on a pole, but it was taken over by the more undesirable larger birds, so I put on a metal plate that would exclude them. The next year, those pesky house sparrows tried endlessly to get in the new smaller opening, but eventually gave up. Since then, it has taken a few years for smaller birds to find it, and feel safe there. But this year, we seem to have Carolina chickadees in residence. Mama gets awfully mad at me whenever I garden nearby. I haven't heard the peeps of baby birds yet, so she must still be at the egg stage. It's fairly near our patio, so I'm sure I'll see and hear the youngsters when they arrive. And I do love her cheerful calls, before she spots me and starts squawking.  

As for my home pursuits, I have almost nothing to show you except for changing my tray to a green theme. You see, once gardening season arrives, I don't have much use for indoors. I do have a crochet project waiting for me, but it's a Christmas gift, so I can't show it here, and I'm certainly in no rush to finish it. 

Once again,  it's time to wrap things up with a look to the skies. Sunsets can be seen from the front porch now, which is my favorite way to take it in. Now that we're starting to see summer storms, perhaps I'll see more volatile cloud formations. A stormy day can provide gorgeous sunsets! 

Thanks for stopping by my Nest, I always love to see you here! 

March in Ohio

 Like so much of the country, we had a mild winter here in Ohio, which extended into bizarre warm days in February and early March. I was wearing sandals by March 4th! All the plants began to wake up, and things started to bloom early. But by mid month, Mother Nature seemed to remember that spring is generally chilly in March, and she did an about face. We had snow and cold, and all the blooming was halted. Even my pansies weren't happy, and they don't usually mind a chill. I stuck pansy pots into the garage for days on end, and covered the other ones with heavy towels. But finally here at the end of the month, we seem to be past the winter weather. 

Although a few flowers peeked out last month, the warm weather in early March is what really made the difference. 

During that burst of warm weather early in the month, I knew that I'd hear the spring peepers singing at the nearby wetland area. I absolutely LOVE this sound, and it's much louder than you would think. This area is remote enough that I can usually just stop my car in the middle of the road, turn off the engine, and record right out the window. Keep in mind this video is meant to by heard, not seen! 

During the cold spell mid month, I went back to indoor pursuits. I crocheted a few cat toys, hung out my newly painted birdhouse, made felt flowers for my cord wreath, watched my Hoya plant bloom, finished my neutral crochet blanket, baked lemon cookies, and filled my favorite vase with orange carnations. I'm someone who just loves to add those extra touches around the house, whether it's fresh flowers, homemade cookies, new crochet blankets or other extras. 

In preparation for Easter, I put out a few decorations, mostly to celebrate spring. My favorite is the blue and white pottery bunny below, since it's Polish pottery. My husband is 100% Polish! 

I stopped in at one of my favorite autumn parks the other day, Chestnut Ridge, when I realized that I've never visited there in early spring. While most of the trees are still bare, I did find a big patch of forsythia, mossy trees, and a blooming serviceberry tree. Most of the white blooming trees seen right now are the dreaded invasive pear trees, but I noticed there were none to be seen at this park. Good! 

 Once the short spell of cold weather was past, the flowers began to bloom again, especially the hellebores.  And yes, I do have a pear tree! But I didn't plant it here, it was placed by the city we live in. It's at least 20 years old, so I doubt it will live much longer. In the meantime, it is pretty. Just don't tell anyone I said that. Ha!

My skywatching is tricky in the month of March, as the sunsets line up in a way that's harder to catch from my house. Soon enough, it will be back in the front where I can see it better. By cruising around nearby, I can always find other sunset views. 

Thanks for coming by to see what's going on in Robin's Nest this month. I always appreciate when you stop by here! Hope to see you at the end of April, where I'll surely have plenty of tulips to share. I even spotted one today, but I'll save that for next time. Till then!