My Gardening Passion

I have many passions and one of them, my love of gardening and gardens, combines beauty and color and the senses. Spring flowers have always been a favorite of mine. It is so wonderful to see all the glorious colors and scents bursting forth after the dreary and dark months of winter. It is such a treat to take a stroll around the farm on a lovely sunny afternoon to be greeted by all of these happy faces. Faces that I haven't seen for an entire year.

This is Lung-wort and I love it because the buds start out pink and then when they open they are a beautiful purple!! It is equally happy in the light shade or in sun, so it is an easy one to grow!

 
Can't you just smell the heady fragrance from these gorgeous pink hyacinths? I also have purple ones, but I think that these pink ones are a bit more spectacular.

 
 Here is a sea of yellows with the daffodils and the forsythia in the background. I love that they bloom at the same time! We have lots of forsythia around our home and they just keep coming back year after year, getting larger and fuller each time!
 
I have to say that I think my all time favorite is this old fashioned Bleeding Heart ~ the romantic name is almost enough to do me in, but then to have such beautiful flowers also ~ what a treat! These plants were here when we moved in 22 years ago and I haven't done a thing for them, no fertilizing, nothing!! They have spread out a bit more and once in a while I will find a "volunteer" which I usually just let go to thrive and live on happily. I have tried to transplant a few and did not have any luck with it. There must be a way to do it successfully because I have seen plants that you can buy in the garden centers ~ I have stopped trying to transplant them so I can have a new Bleeding Heart in another garden. I just hate the thought of disturbing the main plant and then killing off the new plant that I tried to start.
Here are a couple of close-ups of the blossoms and you will see why I am so in love with these!
 
 
I do also love the ferns that have more or less taken over the front of the farmhouse. I got a small clump of them from one of the members of a garden club that I belong to ~ the Pocono Herb Club, many years ago and since then they have been merrily spreading their beauty over time. I am just fascinated by the way that the fiddleheads come up out of a "knob" in the ground and then slowly unfurl until they are fully opened!
 
 
We also have an old crabapple tree in the front, it must be many, many years old because it is getting rather thin and sparse when it blooms. None the less, the blossoms that it does have are still beautiful.
 
This is my buddy Buster who usually accompanies me on my strolls through the yard.  He showed up by our barns last year and I guess that he decided it was an okay place to hang out because he is never far away!  He comes inside to eat and usually spends the night inside also. That's how we have acquired all of our kitties, they just show up here!! And only one was a kitten (that was Diadora, aka Deedles).
 
 
You can see that she is no kitten now!! She is a cow, but a very sweet cow!! She spends her days snoozing in my studio, keeping my chair warm!!
 
I have a few sprigs of Lily of the Valley that I keep hoping will spread around a bit more. Maybe they need to be in a different place and then they will do better. Moving them is on my to do list for this summer!!
 
I'm so happy when I can finally let my "Spring" flag fly!!
Well, apparently Buster has found something MORE important to do than accompany me!! They have no shame!! hahaha! I guess it is time that go start dinner!
 
Thanks for stopping by!!
As always,

Live with Passion!
Amelia Rose