The View From My Window

Todd and I recently returned from two back-to-back trips.  I'm always a bit anxious about traveling in the spring, because I just hate to miss early spring growth.  If you're a gardener, I'm sure you understand.  For example, our snowdrops reached their prime two weeks ago.

The redbuds came and went...

Same with our forsythia.

Thankfully, we're back just in time for the true glory of a Southern spring.  The dogwood blossoms that were just starting to unfurl a week ago...

...are now in full bloom.

  

The tentative hostas...

 

...are now up and running.  That's a hydrangea in the background...we're hoping to keep the deer out with these tomato cages!

Ferns are spiking up their new growth.

Last year I scattered muscari bulbs all around the front yard, and we've caught the tail end of their flowering.

They make the perfect miniature bouquets.

I'll never get tired of them!

Trees are flowering everywhere.  This is the view from the street in front of our house:

I couldn't bear to miss our mass flowering of purple irises, and thankfully they aren't ready to flower for another two weeks.

A few camellia trees are still blooming...

And oh, we missed a week of it, but it's still AZALEA TIME around here!  Gratuitous azalea shots:

These delicate light pink ones are my favorite.

The view from every window in the house shows color and more color.  The view from the greenhouse window in the kitchen is my favorite:

I like the back dining room window view, too:

We've had friends and family visit in the summer and fall, but I highly encourage them to consider the spring.  It's just amazing!

I hope you've got some color wherever you live.  Have a great week!

Surf's Up

Todd and I recently returned from a trip to California.  Even though it's been nice here in South Carolina, it's nothing like San Diego.

It seemed like every tree, bush, and stalk was in bloom.

We saw so much wildlife.  This rabbit barely moved as I crept up with my camera.

We especially love seaside nature.  So many birds!  Cormorants...

Pelicans...

Other miscellaneous shore birds...

I never get tired of watching harbor seals.

Sea lions, too!

Every day was sunny and 75 degrees.  The coast was just beautiful.

We got a kick out of watching the surfers.  They never did catch "the big one"!

It was beautiful...just beautiful.  California, we'll see you next year! 

Hope you're having a sunny week, wherever you are!

Textures, Shapes, and Great Escapes

Several weeks ago, I started noticing signs of spring.  First, the wood ducks came back.  Ducks living in trees?  It's still hard to believe!

The female is a dull brown...

...but the male is brilliantly colored.

I saw another one in California this week:

The anole lizards are out and about.

Mainly sleeping in the sun.

As are turtles...

I've been seeing a lot more insect activity, which is always exciting.  Mud dauber wasps are building nests...

...and paper wasps, too.

Insects have already sprung from this cocoon:

They are still safely tucked away within the webbing on this leaf.

This moth is resting on a window sill and hoping not to be noticed:

Within the very same window, a miniature drama plays out:  a spider has caught a shield bug, many times its own size, and has incapacitated him. 

I love seeing all these little hints that winter is nearly over.  I've been starved, too, for textures and colors.  I soaked them all in at the Clemson Botanical Gardens in early March.

Vibrant spiky leaves:

The wrinkled and crinkled textures and colors of these two types of ornamental cabbage/kale:

The scaly green cylinders of moss:

This mottled bark:

These peeling strands:

The radiating lines on this tree stump:

The textures and colors of this stone wall:

Even the rough texture and elegant lines of this stone floor:

Even though South Carolina has mild winters, it doesn't diminish my joy of spring.  I love seeing the colors and shapes of it, and "old friends" returning:  the birds, and my beloved insects. I was away for a week in California (the aforementioned 'great escape' - pictures coming soon), and even in that short time I've noticed dramatic changes outside. 

I hope you're having a great spring, wherever you are!