APRIL FADES

clematis 'guernsey cream' opening on a cool spring day...

the parrot tulips are finishing up...

clematis 'kingfisher' bud with droplets...

colton is relaxing into his new home...

the potager is still quite bare...

COLTON IS MY IDOL, ANYWAY

after a bath, some light reading

bath, yuck

INTRODUCING COLTON

colton, a cream standard poodle puppy, joined our family today!

luna was initially enthusiastic, but did ask "how long did you say he was staying?"

 but no one can resist colton, and you can see luna touches his paw in this photo...

i realized colton had a bit of red fuzz on his nose after i took this...

getting along nicely!

luna poses with the best of them...

wow, what a cutie, and well-trained too!

we had a long walk in the woods, and everyone was tired...

nap time...

APRIL PROCEEDS THROUGH DROUGHT

we are having quite a drought, requiring much watering of new plants and the potager...

magnolia 'daybreak' continues to bloom through the mild spring, filling evenings with fragrance....

the potager center... these bulbs are 3 years old...

tulips in the center...

white redbud cloaked with flowers...

epimedium 'purple queen' mixes delicately with maidenhair fern...

clematis 'guernsey cream' just opening... not my best shot...

the potager is prepared, with lettuce, sugar snaps, carrots and radishes planted...

POODLE PUPPIES

today hubs and i visited a well-known poodle breeder in pennsylvania, who has two pups available from her lena's litter... she is keeping the black female pup and one of the cream males...

this is timmy, the smallest male, whom the breeder might keep...

here's lena, the mom, smiling... what a great mom...

here are the guys...timmy on the left, big guy in the middle, and colton, the mid-sized pup on the right (at least I think that's who is whom...)

little lena... sorry if out of focus, pups move fast!  what a face!!!

which one would you pick? (l to r: timmy, big guy, colton (i think))

RIP JOE JOE

my beautiful love, joe joe, passed today.  

born september 7, 1999

FAST-FOWARD SPRING

unusual warmth has fast-forwarded spring from its typically languorous, slow-reveal.

i planted orange, white and orange and purple pansies last week...

i also started winter lettuces... you can see the peach and apricot trees blooming.

dwarf peach tree branch...

camellia 'april dawn' is in the lower left of the potager...

april dawn in the vase hubs gave me last christmas...

april dawn in afternoon light...

last week's rainbow chard crop from the potager before i pulled the plants. even the rosemary overwintered this year!

peach blossom...

after suffering storm damage last october, magnolia ruby has the most spectacular blossoms ever...

the mild winter left buds unscorched and perfect...

though the tree is lop-sided...

wow!

i cut back magnolia leonard messel's top last year, and it was more floriferous. i'll prune it more this year...

enjoy spring flowers while they last - not long this year! epimediums have just started blooming!