Wet Saturday, Chickadees and Azaleas. . . . . .

A somewhat unwelcome Saturday morning. 

Rain pouring nonstop. 

Newly bloomed azaleas battered to the ground.

After a scary evening yesterday with rain, flash flooding, hail and

 a tornado warning, all within a few miles of us, we don't need more water.

Thankfully though we sustained no damage here.

A pair of chickadees have been checking the little bird house on the front porch for

 a couple of weeks, however, this year it appears they've decided to build a nursery 

elsewhere. There is no sign of a nest. I even attached a little ball of dryer

lint which I thought they might use. April is moving along quickly and I really

 think they would have moved in by now.

We haven't shopped for our annual hanging Boston ferns for these empty

 baskets yet - but they are on the 'to do' list for a trip to the garden center

on a much drier day.

The fig tree seems to like all this rain, I notice the leaves this morning seem

 more lush and fuller, and the bluebells are standing tall.

Our rain is predicted to last all day, tapering off around 7 PM - which is good as we 

have a theatre date for 8 PM. 

The production of "Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery" is apparently a

humorous adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's scary story "The Hound of

 the Baskervilles" which is set on often fog-shrouded Dartmoor in Devon,

 just a few miles from my English home. 

My favorite, and I have masses of them, all planted many years ago . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . the George Tabor Azalea is one of the best of the sun and

 heat-tolerant evergreen Azaleas. Beautiful evergreen, premier shrub

 for use as hedge, screen or massed planting for a truly 

impressive color display.

Hope your weekend brings sunshine and you are able to get outside

and enjoy some fun in the fresh air.

My Garden in April. . . . . .

A little fanfare please - here in the southeast, spring now surrounds us.

I have to admit that yesterday the house and garden looked lovely
 in the sunlight of late afternoon. I took these photos with my phone.
Bob had spent over three hot hours, mowing, trimming, blowing etc. 

We walked about for a while but the pollen was
extremely heavy so no sitting outside. We checked the
shrubs, many now blooming, and perennials such as 
peonies and hostas poking their way through the earth. 
We felt good about how the garden looks this week.
 I joked with Bob about perhaps we should put out a FOR SALE
 sign with so much 'curb appeal' going on!

Our lawn is thick and green, the best I can recall in many years thanks
 to over seeding heavily last autumn. For those of you interested in gardening
 but living in other areas of the US, or overseas, we prefer to grow fescue grass
 which remains green all winter into spring, dies back somewhat in hot, dry
 summer weather if not watered, but then greens up again in autumn. 
It does require weekly mowing in the spring and summer as it grows tall but
 is lush and dark green. 

Others prefer Bermuda grass which turns brown in winter but does well all

 summer in the heat, staying green and quite short without much water.

 Here, behind this urn with pansies, Queen of the Night

and Angelique tulips, you can see the thick, lush grass. 

The azaleas were happy in the rain of recent days and 

are now coming into bloom.

How does your garden grow?

. . . . . and the fragrance is divine!

At the kitchen window

We were so lucky.  

No hail, no damaging winds, no tornadoes. . . . . . . . just a lot more heavy rain!

The flowers and shrubs were battered but with a little sun they are looking up.