FIRST BLOOMS AND HUMMINGBIRDS

FIRST ROSE BLOOM OF THE YEAR

My first blooming rose of the year. She is new in this spot this year. Her ancestors lived along the side of our house for many decades.  This beauty looks shy, but she comes from a bawdy,  brambly bunch.  They grew more and more out of bounds as each spring and summer passed.  They had a 35-year reprieve because  their sweet fragrance would fill the air for two weeks, every year, year after year.  They bloomed on May 1, without fail.  Mounds of luscious pink blossoms. I would pick giant bouquets of them.  The problem was that they only bloomed for one or maybe two weeks, and then, after the blossoms shattered, they just grew more brambly canes. So many brambly canes.  They became an overgrown, poison ivy infested eyesore.  I don't know the name of this rose.  The original plants were planted decades before we lived here.

SHE'S GROWN UP AGAINST THE WALL

 

 

Her ancestral plants grew around the corner of our house and down the hill.  I don't know if she came from the old rose's seeds or somehow a root from the originals crept up the hill and around the corner and under the landscaping fabric.  I am glad that she is a survivor.  Her bloom was a little late in arriving.  It opened on May 5 this year. 

MY DAVID AUSTIN 'CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE' ROSE RIGHT AFTER IT WAS PLANTED

CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE YESTERDAY, ABOUT A MONTH AFTER PLANTING

I planted a David Austin,  Christopher Marlowe rose this spring.  It was a birthday gift from a dear friend. (Thank you, Sandy).  Christopher Marlowe is a bright colored, pinkish red, with a yellow center rose. I am sure his pedigree is longer than mine.  I can't wait to see him bloom.  I will always be able to remember how old I was when he was planted.  Isn't that chicken wire lovely?  It is to protect against the rampaging rabbits and squadron of squirrels at our house.

PEEK-A-BOO!

This pretty clematis was playing peek-a-boo today.  I hadn't even noticed her.  I was trying to tie the vine up onto the awning support when I discovered her. 

I planted this clematis many years ago, before I knew to keep track of the names of the plants that I plant.

Our porch and foundation paint is giving my flower photos a "chippy look".  We need to paint, but I don't know how that will be done without smashing around in my flowers and plants. 

ONE OF LAST YEAR'S LITTLE SWEETIES

• Yesterday afternoon my husband spotted the first hummingbird of the season.  It was touching its beak to the new growth tips of our spruce tree. 

Hummingbirds and roses.  Ah, Spring!

      "Spring - an experience in immortality."
                                                 Henry D. Thoreau