Rushing Spring

Springtime in Kentucky has been with us for days, a hasty harbinger of the official vernal equinox which will occur a few hours from now.

Daffodils [called March lilies by the locals] began trying to bloom in January.

Fruit trees have burst forth with fragrant blossoms, causing us to shake our heads and fret about the possibility of late frosts.

The ground is moist from night time showers, and the moisture combined with balmy days has forced plant life into over-drive--including the weeds that got a head start during the green and open winter.

Color is everywhere--along roadsides, in woodlots, yards and gardens.

Last week the county was awash in the foamy white of Bradford Pears, planted here to border driveways or the boundaries of a lawn.  The blossoms have faded now and the pale green leaves have taken over.

Forsythia blazes golden yellow and the bright pink of Redbuds dots the landscape.

This is the flowering crabapple at the edge of our back yard.

The fruits of this tree are so tiny and useless that I suspect it is only meant to be ornamental, not a source of fruit for crabapple jelly.

The gaunt Old-Timey Pear in the pasture reveals its great age.

It has graced the pasture for more than a century.

Several strawberry plants have blossomed in the upper garden.

The original plants set in two years ago have produced a crowd of new plants.

My determined weeding of them last September all needs to be done again.

Somewhere I have a rough diagram  of the dwarf fruit trees.

I think the label is off this one.

I'm calling it a peach.

I don't consider this patch of garden one of my successes.

I have battled an invasion of 'Sweet Annie'--sown at one time by the former owners.

For every plant that I yank out several go to seed somewhere nearby.

Mint has rampaged happily here, enjoying the shade.

There are pinks, a somewhat dimished clump of columbine, lemon balm and several thriving catnip plants.

Willis flung himself through the catnip, and emboldened by its fumes, made a nuisance of himself.

The ground is really too wet to 'work'--but the weeds have such a headstart I think I must

gouge them out before my cherished plants are swallowed up!

I've ordered 6 blueberry bushes which should arrive by the weekend.

I think I could use a full time gardener; imagine directing the gardening from a comfortable lawn chair: 'dig there; weed this border;