Thursday 13: Around the Yard

There’s so much going on in the yard this time of year, so I thought another Thursday 13 featuring things around the yard was in order.

I apologize that the light isn’t the best in some of the photos.  It has been HOT here, and it was just too miserable to go around taking pictures until after the sun started going down.

1.     This week, we’ll start with the white hydrangea that’s just starting to bloom. 

Here’s a close-up. 

2.    Next up, we have the Shasta daisies, which aren’t looking good at all. 

The free-range chickens like to dig in the front flowerbed, so I thought I’d chicken-proof it with some decorative fencing.

3.    Clearly, the fence failed to keep them out.  I’m working on another solution.

4.    We’ve recently put a birdbath on a shepherd’s hook next to the front porch.  It’s in direct sun, so I’ve been trying to put ice cubes in it at least once a day.  The birds are definitely using it.  We’ve seen several, and we have to refill it every night. 

5.    The rose of Sharon trees are blooming. 

6.     We have full flowers.

7.    We have buds.

8.    And we have some that are right in the middle.

9.    We have a birdfeeder in the backyard now.  It’s solar and lights up when it gets a little darker than it was when I took the picture. 

10. Next, we have the flowers in the planter on the rain barrel next to the birdfeeder.  I can’t remember the name of these flowers.  I always think of them as mini petunias. 

Here’s a close-up.

11.  There are more flowers that look like mini petunias in the planter on the second rain barrel.

12.   There are also some regular petunias in that planter.  I think these look absolutely perfect.

13. Lastly, in answer to Live & Learn’s question about the groundhogs eating plants we don’t want them to eat, here’s what’s left of the basil.  They ate most of it two weeks ago, and it had started growing back some earlier this week, but they feasted on it again.  Apparently, they’re not planning to share the basil with us.  

Thursday 13: Around the Yard

Between flowers and the backyard animals, there’s a lot going on in the yard right now, so this week’s Thursday 13 is a little look around the yard.

1.     We’ll start with some zinnias.  I don’t think I’ve ever had zinnias before, but this year, they’re one of my favorites.

2.    Here’s a closeup of one of them.

3.    And here’s the yellow one. 

4.    These are all in pots on the front porch, along with a pink geranium. 

5.    There’s also basil, that looked like this on Wednesday morning.

6.    The basil looked like this by Wednesday evening.  I have no proof, but I suspect the groundhogs feasted on the basil. 

7.    We also have a shepherd’s hook with two hanging baskets of petunias and a suet feeder in the front yard.  

Here’s a closeup of the flowers.  

The suet feeder is very popular.  It was eaten down this much in just a little over twelve hours.

8.    A friend gave us these beautiful hydrangeas.  We have a white hydrangea, but I’ve wanted pink and blue ones for a while, so I was very excited to get these.  We’re still deciding where we’re going to plant them.

9.    Here’s a closeup of the blooms.

10. I put mums in the pots on the porch during the fall and two of them came back.  I think of them as more of a fall flower, so I moved both of them to this big pot.  I’m planning to tuck it in a corner of the backyard and hope that the mums are big and blooming by the fall.

11. In the backyard, the blackberry bush has lots of berries that aren’t quite ripe yet. 

12. There’s also a second blackberry bush now.  I suspect the birds are responsible for planting this one, which I appreciate. 

13.   And no yard tour would be complete without a groundhog video, so here’s a video of one of our groundhogs enjoying a peanut butter cracker.

What’s going on in your yard now?  

We Have More Blooms

I think it’s finally safe to say that the warm weather is here to stay.  The days have consistently been sunny and warm, and it seems like something new blooms every day.  I love this time of year!  Here’s what’s blooming now:

The lavender petunia I bought at the plant sale at the community college.  It has more than doubled in size and blooms.

One of the snapdragons from last year.  These don't usually come back for me, so I'm pretty excited to see it making a return.  And I love the coral color.

The azalea bush on the side of the house.  Most of the azalea blooms are withering now, but this one is always a late bloomer, so it's going strong right now.

And a closeup of the azaleas.

This rosebush.  We bought it on clearance a few years ago.  It was sad and sickly, and we weren't sure it would make it.  It was puny for a year, but now it's doing well.

And a closeup of a rose.

There were several bushes planted in front of our house when we bought it.  I didn't care for most of them, so have been slowly replacing them with bushes I do like, which basically means flowering bushes.  This yellow rose bush is one of the replacements.  I like yellow roses, and I think the yellow looks nice in front of the blue house.  It was pretty small when I bought it, one gallon I think.  It makes me happy to see it growing.

And a closeup of a yellow rose.

Can you guess what my favorite season is?  What about you?  Do you love spring?  Are the flowers blooming where you are?