Lilacs

Across from the Big Garden, our neighbor's Lilacs are blooming. They have three old bushes that were planted long ago by the former owners of the home and property. While the variety names have been lost over the years, their beauty each Spring carries on.

I am guessing that two of plants are the same variety since the blooms are the same, soft lavender/pink color. 

Since the day was sunny and warm, the air was filled with the unmistakable lilac fragrance.

These lilacs, like so many other plants this Spring, are ahead of schedule. Typically, they would be in full bloom closed to the May 1st. But this year we get to enjoy them a few weeks early.

Mother's Day

We enjoyed a beautiful Mother's Day Sunday. The weather could not have been nicer. The high hit 83 degrees and everyone was outside soaking up the sunshine. My day was full between track & Mother's Day activities so I had to get up early to sneak in some gardening time. While I gave the grass around the garden its second mowing of the year, Dad worked on leveling out the dirt in the garden. He filled in old dahlia holes with the left over compost and scraped the hills and bumps flat with the blade on the tractor. After a couple hours of hard work from both of us, and a sunburn or two, the garden is now ready for the first tilling of the year!

As I pushed the mower down the road, heading back home, the wind picked up and an unmistakable fragrance filled the air. Lilacs! I hadn't even noticed that the old lilac bushes across the road from my garden are in full bloom. I stopped to admire the beautiful blossoms. We haven't had any rain since May 4th, so the blooms are in perfect condition. There is no other scent like a lilac. Lovely!

A busy, busy Sunday

 Today went by in a gardening blur! A good part of my day was spent down in the big garden. It was time to mow again and this time I mowed the back grass too. It was still pretty wet back there but some of the grass was almost as tall as I was. It was now or never! Unfortunately, it is still too wet in the garden to attempt a first tilling. A couple areas still have standing water in them and getting the tractor in at this point would do more damage than good. It is very frustrating and the 10-day forecast shows more rain on the way.

After I finished mowing I spent some time working on Dorothy's roses. I trimmed out all of the dead wood and tried to cut back all of the grass around the canes as best as I could. I was pleased to find that the big rose has at least three new shoots. I need to get some compost tea and Epsom salt and give the roses a boost. They are really suffering from black spot right now. They don't like this endless rain anymore than I do.

Across the street at Dorothy's former home, her grand old lilacs are in full bloom.

I wish you could smell through the computer screen their heavenly scent.