Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Spring is blooming all over the place here in the great state of Kansas!  Of course, this being Kansas means our winds could shift and get all crazy and it could still get bitterly cold and snowy (yay!), but things are starting to bud out and bloom, so we thought we'd show you around our gardens a bit!  Ready to take a look?

Cam and I helped Mom take photos of some of the things out back.  Well, actually, we stayed on the deck and did this for the most part:

"BOOM!"
"BOOM!"

... but you get the idea!

This is the time of year when Mom actually likes our Texas Quince bushes.  They are in full bloom!

Texas Quince

Dad dug out a whole bunch of them (like ... 87 million, I think) last year and the year before, and they are thorny, invasive, nasty things.  Those red flowers sure are pretty, though -- right?

Moving along ... the Day Lilies are sprouting up:

Day Lilies

And so are the Irises!  Mom's friend Linda gave her a bunch of (oh, wait -- she's our friend, too) gave her a bunch of Iris rhizomes in September and I supervised her building an Iris garden.  (You can read the details here.)  She's excited that they all lived and are coming up!  Here's a look:

The Linda R Iris Garden

Isn't  that cool?  Mom and Dad did a HUGE re-do of the back gardens last Fall, and planted lots of new things.  In some areas, Mom knew the plants would go dormant and she might forget what was where.  To ensure that she didn't pluck things out, thinking they were weeds, she stuck little flags all over the place and drew a map.  With any amount of luck, this is a Hummingbird Mint:

Hopefully a Hummingbird Mint

There's always a chance that a weed popped up right where she stuck her flag in, but let's stay positive!

While we were out on the deck supervising the garden photo shoot, this guy came by and serenaded us:

Northern Cardinal in the neighbors' tree

Isn't he handsome?  I hope a female Cardinal heard his song and was impressed!  Mom loves it when the birds come to our backyard!

Oh! Do you know what else is out back? Our sunsets.

Sunset over the hills

God does amazing work, doesn't He?

Let's see what's going on out front, OK?  How about the Hen and Chicks?

"Check it out!"

Oh.  Right.  I meant the plant variety, not the birdie variety!

The Dragon's Blood Sedum is already looking good:

Really cool Dragon's Blood Sedum

And the tiny Grecian Windflowers Mom put in a few years ago are up and blooming!

"They're right here in front of m---oooh!  The neighbor kid is out!"

Sorry.  I got distracted.  Two things you should know - the Windflowers are the tiny, purple flowers right in front of me and apparently you're not supposed to eat them.  Who knew?  Are these rules written down somewhere?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed your tour around our gardens.  We'll let you know how everything progresses!  Have a serene Sunday!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher