Hunting for Color!

Flowering Current - probably ten-feet tall~

 After days of pouring rain, pounding wind storms & colder temperatures - when that golden globe in the sky, peeked through for about 5 seconds this morning...  I ran for the camera!  I'd just told Butch over the weekend that if I didn't get a photo soon, the blooms would be either faded from the rain or blown off by the wind!

Ribes sanguineum glutinosum,

 We planted these currents early on in the rehabilitation of Dogwood Gulch - from an overgrown creek gully full of blackberry - to a more landscaped look.  Eventually we put a gravel path down the near side, with the help of Pat's son Jesse.  Jesse did a lot of work for us in his early teen years!

Ribes Sanguineum - King Edward VII

 Part of the wonder of the flowering currants - is that they have edible berries, they draw hummingbirds the natural way & the berries make yummy jam!  As a Washington Native Plant you're helping our state environment by planting these!  I've found them along side logging roads & you'll see them at Victoria right now.

Looking west toward the Cottage & Entry~

 The dogwoods - I've been cutting down & will eventually Go!  Something I didn't consider when we planted the Emerald Greens on our south property line - along the road, was the change in light.  We certainly love the privacy & noise reduction that the trees provide - but now the dogwoods get so stringy, branches dropping & rooting everywhere they can - including in the creek.  No fun keeping the creek clear of them :-(  By the time I took this photo - the sun had again disappeared & drizzle was coming down.

Nika~ Coming 4!

 The currant behind Nika in the photo above has died off.  It was very stressed last summer, I kept it watered, but no luck.  Now, I'm going to cut it down & see if it will come back from the roots.  This hill gets very dry with a south exposure & without the rich soils we enjoy everywhere else.

Blooming ground cover~

I forget what this blooming ground cover is, it hasn't spread as much as I'd hoped, but I'll take what I can get :-)  Now, the weeds are popping up everywhere!  Controlling them is so much work & never-ending.  Can you tell?  I'm tired of rain, tired of this darn time change too!  Why on earth it doesn't get nixed is beyond me!  

Welcome Spring!

On my morning walk~

Yes!  The skies cleared - at least a little - & I headed out for a walk-a-bout.  It's amazing to me how much things can change in just a day or two.  The Indian Plums started blooming so late this year - but now that they are - their flowers look like white lace against any background.    They love the cool temperatures.

Rascal & Nika

When I looked up from the viewfinder - my eye went right back to it!  :-)  As usual - now that they have to wear their PetSafe collars - I have company on my walks again.  We had to replace Rascal's - it had been "chewed" - by his friend I'm sure.  Another $69. into it - the new one has a light that blinks when the batteries are low.  Nice feature for that kind of money!  But I digress...

Indian Plum blooms with Mountain Ash behind~

Back to the walk...  Can't resist another photo of these.  But for color - at least this time of year, the Flowering Red Currants are the first for us here!

Bloom on the Flowering Currants

I used to hang hummingbird feeders in the early spring - but gave it up after I did some further reading & with all the natural sources of nectar - decided to forgo the artificial.  I've already seen a couple hummers & we should be seeing more soon!  I didn't get the flocks of birds that we usually do in late winter.  Will never forget the first morning I looked out to see Groosbeaks!

Nika eating the blooms off the Currants!

 Only a few birds out today - but I've seen lots of Chickadees up in the woods on the few nice days we've had.   The weatherman has reported that we've now had three times our normal rainfall for the month of March & the month is still far from over!  The creek has been flowing bank to bank & I love hearing the sound of running water!

The creek widens out near the road~

The boxwood's we planted a few years ago are finally getting big!  Soon they will be large enough to block the view of pavement.   Such a tough plant & one of the few that can eek out their existence where it's soaking wet in winter & cooking hot in summer.  The emerald greens have done such a fantastic job of insulating us from the road.  I've yet to count how many we've planted over the years.

Hellebore

The light in these photos is so indicative of the high overcast & off/on rain & thunderstorms that are our normal.  Here's to a Great Spring with warm days, sunshine, light breezes & all the things we enjoy this time of year!

Spring! Hours away!

King Edward Flowering Currant

Very cold!  Blue sky!  What an incredible morning!  Wouldn't it have been nice to have had this weather yesterday...   I'll take it for today!   the buds on the flowering currants are holding their own.

Indian Plum blooming

One of the first Washington Native plants to bloom - lending the appearance of white lace to the light green of the new leaf buds.

Frozen ice on the ground covers~

Spring is around the corner!