This one went together pretty fast. I used a round crystal bowl to hold it, with floral foam taped into the bowl. I like the way it turned out.

The glass votive with a few stray blossoms is courtesy of Rose Red. She likes to use it for the flowers she picks in the garden. She doesn’t have the hang of picking stems with her flowers yet.

~~Rhonda

The columbine are setting seed. They self sow easily. If you have a columbine plant, you’ll find new plants in the bed next year. If you want to save seed to sow them where you want them, wait for the seedpods to turn brown. When they begin to split, collect the seeds. These columbine are hybrids, so the new plants may not look like the parent plant. But they are all beautiful.

Carpenter bees chew wood, but do not eat it. They consume nectar and pollen like they would find on this columbine, pollinating as they feed. Male carpenter bees do not have stingers. You can tell a male carpenter bee by the white spot on its face. They are very curious and will buzz around people but are not aggressive. My grand-daughter was excited to actually touch one as it hovered near her on the east porch the other day.

Peony ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’ looks great paired with Siberian iris ‘Caesar’s Brother.’

‘Monsieur Jules Elie’

The peonies that opened first are now finishing their bloom time. But others are just opening, like ‘Nymph.’

Another late blooming peony…just getting started.

The iris ‘Alabaster Unicorn’ has a unique pointed beard, like a unicorn’s horn. It’s a beautiful clear white with yellow beards and white horns.

Yellow Flag Iris

The hostas seem particularly vigorous this year. Anyone else having the same experience?

Hosta ‘Squash Casserole’

The hosta ‘Big Mama’ has been in our garden for several years. It hasn’t done much until this year, but this spring it has certainly taken off.

Hosta ‘Golden Meadows’

Hosta ‘Midwest Magic’

The hosta ‘Love Pat’ languished in the garden until we moved it to this bed. Now it’s looking much better. Sometimes you have to move them around until you find the place they like.

The hosta on the left is ‘Orange Marmalade.’ The large green one behind it to the right is a sport from the ‘Orange Marmalade.’ A sport is a shoot of a plant that is different from the original. Amazing that it can be SO different, isn’t it?

The rhododendron in the front yard has finished blooming, but the one in the back is just getting started.

The Queen Anne’s Lace had reseeded itself in the yard. We dig a lot of it out, but do like to leave some because it’s a host plant for Black Swallowtail caterpillars.

False Indigo…a great plant for the garden, if you have room. It can grow four feet tall and spread as much as six feet wide. When you plant it, be sure you want it there because it does not transplant well. It’s a native Illinois prairie plant and likes full sun.

Lacecap hydrangea

All the hydrangea bushes are loaded with blossoms this year.

I took a lot of pictures today, but I’d better quit here. Why don’t you sit in the garden for a while and relax? You are always welcome!

You can visit other gardens at Tootsie’s Fertilizer Friday link party.

~~Rhonda

The garden gives a glimpse of God’s creation as it moves through the spring bloomers. Color and beauty. Amazing plants and flowers. Inspiration at every turn.

Peonies are some of my favorite flowers and they are beginning to open. Looking through my pictures, I see that the first peony out in 2008 was ‘Lavender Lady’ and she opened on May 18. That must have been a late year, because we usually have peonies the first week of May. This year they are quite early!

‘Sorbet’

‘Krinkled White’

‘Buckeye Belle’

‘Lavender Lady’

I used ‘Lavender Lady’ in a bouquet for church this morning. The lilac is a later blooming one called ‘Miss Kim.’

‘Miss Kim’ is a Korean lilac. She blooms a few weeks later than the larger lilacs in our yard which extends the lilac season nicely. The leaves and blossoms are smaller than the large lilacs and the scent seems more spicy than heavily sweet. The buds are a dark lilac and open to a soft mauve. A great little lilac.

She’s maybe five feet tall. Perhaps a few inches shorter than that. I’ll have to check next time we’re outside. The shrub is planted where we can catch the scent from the both the front and the east porches.

There’s a large patch of Johnny-Jump-Ups in one of the front yard beds. They always remind me of my Grandma Ashby. She had them in her yard on the farm.

Along with the Johnny-Jump-Ups are the Star of Bethlehem. They began popping up in the yard this week.

We dig the little white star out of the beds, but allow it to come up in the grass and around the benches. It can take over in no time, if not held at bay. But it’s so pretty and has that “surprise” element by popping up almost overnight after the leaves begin to fade. We wouldn’t want to be without it.

The only daffodils still blooming are the last of the Poet’s.

The hostas are responding well to the early warm temperatures we’ve had this spring. In this bed, left to right are ‘Golden Tiara,’ ‘Sea Fire,’ ‘Lime Twist (small almost hidden one), ‘Allan P. McConnell,’ and ‘Stiletto.’ I love the rippled, long, thin leaves of ‘Stiletto.’

‘Samurai,’ with the evening sun behind it, glows with bright yellow green this time of the year.

I keep taking pictures of ‘Sagae’ because it looks so pretty with the Sweet William blooming next to it.

Yesterday, DH dug trees out of the flower beds. A perpetual problem. He potted up nine redbud trees. Anyone interested? He planted tomato plants and covered the bed with straw. Zak thought the straw was provided for his amusement.

Earlier this weeek, Zak was intent on watching something. He is a great mole catcher, but I think he may have been listening for the little garter snake that lives along the driveway. That’s one snake I hope he doesn’t catch.

One last picture…I captured this photo of the late blooming dogwood with the setting sun behind it. It brought out the faint pink cast of the blossom.

I hope you are getting outside to enjoy a garden. Or gardens! Or you can go online. It is Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day over at Carol’s May Dreams Gardens. Check out the beautiful gardens there.

Come back soon. We’ll have more pictures!

~~Rhonda

The parents are very attentive, feeding bits of fish to the babies today.

This is a wonderful opportunity to watch an amazing process up close and personal. You can view the eagle cam here.

~~Rhonda

“Look at the baby ants!”

Fascinating!

Having the ant crawl over her fingers and hand didn’t bother her at all. Different story for her sister.

Had to show it to Pa.

Putting the ant back “so he can go home and find his Mommy and his Daddy.”

Long after her sister lost interest, she kept watching and playing with the ants. Her ability to focus on one thing over a long period of time always surprises me.

~~Rhonda

Magnolia ‘Jane’

Hyacinth

This small spirea has tiny sweet blossoms on it. I don’t remember the variety.

Daffodils…such happy flowers.

The blossoms of the mini daffodil ‘Minnow’ are about an inch wide.

The Star Magnolia has a wonderful scent.

Sure sign of spring…the Spring Beauties.

The peonies are stretching upward!

The apricot trees are blooming about as early as we’ve ever seen them.

In the woods, the bloodroot is blooming. One of the purest white flowers I know.

Even the veggie garden is getting a good start on spring. The lettuce is up and we’ll soon have spinach and radishes sprouting.

The refreshing beauty of spring always reminds me of God’s generous goodness and provision.

You can visit other gardens at Tootsie’s blog party.

~~Rhonda

Pa’s short garden shovels are just the right size for little gardeners.

DH and DS pulled the old plow out of the barn and hooked it up to the mule…I mean the lawn mower… They plowed a furrow for the grands to plant flower seeds.

Planting sunflower seeds (and digging, digging, digging).

Lots of weed pulling, lots of raking, lots of burning leaves and sticks.

And lots of clambering up and down her favorite climbing tree. She kept checking with anyone who had a clipper in hand. “Not my climbing tree. Don’t cut down my climbing tree.”

Concrete was mixed for the posts of the chicken coop.

The base of the coop made a perfect stage.

And when you live in the country, the hose is a good place to get a drink. No time to waste by running inside on such a beautiful day.

We’re looking forward to many more fun days on the farm.

~~Rhonda

I love the color of the Lenten Rose. So welcome this time of year.

A few years ago, I found a single snowdrop blooming under the apple tree. This year, there are five blossoms.

The leaves of ‘Star of Bethlehem’ sprout a bright green under a garden bench. When I was a child, we called this “Easter grass” because it makes beautiful clumps of green “grass” perfect for hiding Easter eggs. The flower stalks will pop up in late April / early May as the leaves begin to fade. After flowering the plant goes dormant for the rest of the season.

This tiny clump of moss caught my eye with its bright yellow-green color. The clump is only about an inch and a half wide. It’s always fun to get a close up look at the detail in nature. So easy to miss as you walk by, but a camera can capture those details for a closer look.

The quince bush is covered with pink buds.

The crocus are still blooming. We find new ones popping up here and there in unexpected places. I guess the squirrels plant those for us.

And the daffodils…so refreshing!

‘Von Sion’ daffodils

This little clump of ‘Tete-a-Tete’ daffs near the back door is only five inches tall. I love the minis.

And many more to come!

The chalkboard over the kitchen table is keeping track of the days until spring, but I think spring has other ideas…

~~Rhonda

The yellow flag, Iris pseudacorus, just opened this week.

Peony ‘Dancing Butterfly’

Peony ‘Nymph’

The Goldmoss Stonecrop Sedum blossomed this week.

And the pretty white geraniums did, too.

The lovely peony ‘Sarah Bernhardt’ opened this week, as well. A beautiful dark pink, it’s a bit later in blooming that most of our other peonies.

Peony ‘Raspberry Sundae’ is much prettier than this photo shows. It is blushed a soft pink. Beautiful!

I love the “black” flowers. The iris ‘Dark Passion’ is a pretty one.

Siberian iris ‘Caesar’s Brother’

The daisies in the fenced garden opened this week.

And the false indigo is blooming.

There is a lot more blooming in the garden, but I’ll stop here. I’ve probably run too long already. Next post…hostas. They are looking beautiful this year. I wonder if it’s all that rain??  Check out more spring blossoms at Tootsie Time.

~~Rhonda

My favorite peony is ‘Sorbet.’ We have several of these around the yard. This one is the original and it is in the fenced garden.

For reference…here’s a picture DH took (from the roof of the house) of the fenced garden in 2009. It sits on the east side of the house. Must have been evening, as that is the shadow of the house across the garden. The ‘Sorbet’ is in the lower right hand corner.

‘Little Medicine Man’ is a wonderful single peony. It is vigorous in our garden and flowers profusely. I like the singles because they stand up to rain, unlike the heavier blossoms of doubles and bombs. We need to take a few starts from this one and place it in other parts of the garden.

‘Krinkled White’ is another lovely single.

Another single…do you see a theme here??…Peony ‘Illini Warrior.’ It is actually a darker red than this picture portrays.

Another single, ‘Dancing Butterfly’ is near the back door. I enjoy it every time I go outside.

An old variety, introduced in 1851, ‘Festiva Maxima’ has a large, double, white flower with flecks of red at the base of some center petals. This is one of the three “old-fashioned” peonies everyone seems to be familiar with…the white one (Festiva Maxima’), the red one (‘Karl Rosenfield’ 1908), and the pink one (Peony ‘Monsieur Jules Elie’ 1888). Rest assured, there are many, many more than those three. But they seem to be the ones you find in old gardens, farmsteads, etc.

I’ve gone on and on about the peonies…I’ll save the rest for another post. Here are a few other pics I took while mowing. I’m sure my neighbors wonder why I mow…stop…mow…stop…mow…stop… Takes longer than it should to do the entire yard when one stops every few minutes to admire the garden!

The rhododendron by the veggie garden will bloom in a week or two. It is covered with buds. It was labeled as a white one when we bought it, but it is actually a lovely pale pink.

The hosta ‘Samurai’ is showing a couple of damaged leaves. Must have been the extremely cold weather we had last week. The highs and lows have been chaotic lately. Not to mention the rain, rain, rain.

Two great plants in this photo. I love the color of the meadow sage. And the blossoms last a long time. When they are done, they can be cut back and the plant will bloom again. The old-fashioned yellow iris is a wonderful plant. It begins to bloom with the earliest irises and will still be blooming with the latest. It adds a great splash of color all over the garden.

There’s something so peaceful about the evening light in the backyard. Dreamy.

You can see more beautiful spring blooms at Jean’s Bloomin’ Tuesday.

~~Rhonda