Easter Buds

Weather: Last rain 3/19, but there’s water in the ground about 3" down.

What’s blooming in the area: Cherry, peach, crab apple, purple leaf plum, forsythia, daffodils; daylilies and peonies up; apples leafing.

Beyond the walls and fences: Alfilerillo, western stickseed, purple mustard, dandelion.

In my yard: Sand cherry, moss phlox; flower buds on purple leaf sand cherry, Siberian pea.

What’s blooming inside: Zonal geraniums.

Animal sightings: Small birds, small black ants, peach trees buzzing with bees.

Weekly update: The week before Easter, the local groceries and drug stores have lilies, tulips and hyacinths for sale. I always look for new leaves. They may not be as pretty or as fragrant, but they are the best sign on resurrection Sunday.

Some I visit are the trees I put in two years ago. Last year’s leaves were proof they could make it. Now they’re in the consolidation phase when they put out leaves and a few flowers, but haven’t started branching.

There are some I bought years ago. While they were sitting on the porch, it snowed. They died back from the ice on their stems, and have taken years to recover. The globe willow only began to expand when I expanded the driveway so it has gravel on two sides to capture water.

Some have done very well, but their flowers are erratic. Last year, heat destroyed the lilacs in spring.

The same happened to the sweet peas in the summer. They died back, and never recovered.

While I get some pleasure from the recoveries of climate casualties, I’m happier when I see the ones who’ve done so well over the years haven’t succumb to age or disease.

Photographs: All taken in my yard on Easter morning, 5 April 2014.
1. Siberian pea, which blooms reliably and has quietly gotten taller.

2. Caryopteris, which has spread into a copse that’s covered with flowers in summer.

3. Stella cherry now has survived two summers and two winters.

4. Globe willow died back to the roots, and has taken years to turn into a shrub. The ones in the village thrive.

5. Lilacs have spread from suckers, but their flowers sometimes die from frost, sometimes from heat. The ones in the village usually bloom, but even they didn’t last year.

6. Sweet peas went into remission last summer, but seem to be coming back. The ones in the village do well, but haven’t emerged yet this year.

7. Spirea took a while to get established, but now blooms every year; if the spring is bad, the flowers open one at a time in the summer. Most other plants in the area have not survived, or don’t do as well as mine.

8. Peonies have taken a long time to take hold, and the flowers nearly always are destroyed by something: frost, heat, deformity. The ones in the village always do well.