Out Like a Lamb

Ouf....it's been hot here. Everything has burst into bloom at once. Even the vinca that I cut back so savagely a few weeks ago managed a few blossoms.

This is an invasive species that I'm supposed to kill but we love it. Here, where nothing grows, it is a welcome sight every spring and makes a pretty picture on otherwise bare spots. 

My new mini rhododendron made it through the winter and has burst into color up against the house. 

I have several clumps of these mystery buds. Every year they get this far and then never fully bloom. Could this be their year? I'll have to wait and see. 

My poor camellias have burnt edges from the cold. The dark red one shows the least amount of damage. 

My pale pink one looks pretty bad this year as does my darker pink one. 

My one big daffodil clump seems very happy. I keep kicking myself for not planting more every fall but I forget. I need to write a big note on the calendar. 

But the most exciting thing is that my poor little baby hydrangeas, that I thought had died over the winter, are finally showing signs of life. I almost tossed them.

There are tiny little buds happening in the joints. These were a couple of those cheap plants you get at Walmart in a box for $1.97 and when you open the box there is a tiny stick with some roots on it. I potted these up and they seemed happy enough all last summer but I thought winter might have done them in since they were very slow to react to the warm weather. I'll have to keep an eye on them for sure. Those babies look pretty fragile.

And....for Valerie, here are my concrete critters which I am sad to say have seen better days. The rabbit used to have ears but I made the mistake of picking him up by them. 

I also have a kitty along with a cement bird bath base adorning my side yard. If you ask me where these came from I couldn't tell you. They might have been my mom's or my grandmother's. All I know is that they have always looked this bad. Well, maybe not this bad but their slow disintegration is what I find the most charming about them. Sort of like what's happening to me these days. Sigh....