This is such an exciting time of the year because so much is happening in our garden every day! And the weather is still cool enough, which means I spend a good bit of time outside looking at everything. Later in the summer I basically hide in the air conditioning...
Last year, we planted a quince tree. It was just a stick, really, that then grew branches and leaves. This year, we had a few flowers and it looks like we are getting two quinces to grow, which is probably enough for the tree as it grows and gets established.
The oleander is blooming already and will hopefully continue to do so throughout the summer.
It's such a beautiful splash of color!
A few days ago, our jasmine started blooming and because it's cool enough to have the windows open, we can even smell its wonderful fragrance inside the house.
While our "normal" hydrangeas aren't blooming yet, one of our oak leaf hydrangeas is sporting gorgeous flowers. The other two are in a different part of our yard and were really affected by the hurricane winds last fall. While they are growing and leafing out, they don't have flowers this year. We are happy they survived the storm!
Every year, Daniel plants a good number of annuals in pots which we have around our back porch and patios. One of my favorites this year is this impatiens with the filled flowers. They look like little roses.
Ahhhhh, the figs are growing! Our tree is loaded and I need to start collecting recipes! I'm sure we'll be making lots of jam and chutney again.
Mama raccoon has been fun to watch. Most of the time, we just see her ears.
But sometimes she will look out and stretch. Can't wait for the babies to get bigger and start peeking out of their nest.
The other day, I looked up to see what the raccoon was doing and saw a green heron sitting nearby. We hear them all the time, but they are usually well camouflaged in the leafy branches.
Tomorrow we are expecting storms but the weekend promises to be gorgeous again. Maybe I'll take some more photos then...
Happy Thursday, everyone!!
❧ Silke
Maybe you could combine the quince and figs into a nice compote?
ReplyDeleteThat sounds wonderful, except that the figs ripen in July and the quinces not until almost winter... :-)
DeleteThis is such a nice post. Love the photos.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love to document the progress of our garden throughout the year...
DeleteYou live (almost) in paradise, Silke!
ReplyDeleteAlmost... This morning it is super humid (we are expecting massive storms later today) and it seems a little less like paradise to this northern European woman. 😀 But tomorrow we are back to beautiful spring temperatures for a few days!
DeleteLove visiting your garden! You are lucky the raccoon is nesting in your tree, not in your chimney!! One year we had one take up residence in our chimney--we lived in an old house that had a double chimney (so one side wasn't actually linked to the fireplace. I kept hearing scratching and strange noises coming from the chimney area. Early one evening we were sitting out in our backyard and out popped the head of the mother raccoon and a baby!!After that we kept watch every evening and one night she came out of the chimney followed by two babies and my husband put the ladder up and covered up the open chimney so she couldn't get back in.
ReplyDeleteOh, wow!! Our chimney has a screen on top so that birds or other critters won't get in. And our house is secure. I know of people who've had raccoon nests in their attics. In the tree I don't mind, but not in the house! Luckily, we've never had a problem with any of the raccoons around here.
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