It must be April! The daffodils have already been blooming like mad in an early spring frenzy. The one pictured here is a late-comer (if you can imagine a daffodil being late on the first of April. But isn’t he a beauty, all white and dapper with his pale yellow collar…
His name is actually Loth Lorien, which is ‘the fairest forest of the realm’ in JRR Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings, and is not only home to the Elves, but a place where time stands still… and that’s pretty much what happened to me when I spotted these this morning – I just froze and stared at them for I don’t know how long.
Ah, Spring time…
And the Hostas are coming out nicely, down by the creek – looks like they’ll be enormous this year. Scott came and split the beauties growing at the Cottage and put them all around the property. This one is called American Sweetheart Hosta, and it is a particular favorite of mine. The American Sweethearts and Patriots (similar colors but in reverse, with creamy white margins around a deep green center) are heirloom plants, put here by Colonel ‘Pug’ Pugmire when he built the Creek House in the 60s. We’ve tended and split and shared many of this one’s offspring.
Even the lilacs are putting on an early show for us this year. I did take pictures of the ones already blooming (after pressing my face deep into the middle of them and inhaling their intoxicating fragrance. Not like I couldn’t smell them from further away, but I could, so I did. What luxury! Bliss! -wait a second, what was I saying?) Oh yes. I did take pictures of the full blooms, but this one with the buds just seemed to show the promise of spring better than any of the others, so presented here, for your pleasure… Lilacs in bud:
The lilac is actually another of Pug’s legacies. The one he planted is way down the creek bank, and stays in full shade. It continued to grow, of course, but didn’t reach the sun until I’d been here a full dozen years – I was stunned to come out one morning to the heady scent of lilac and wondered, ‘What in the world?’ Looking far up into the tip-top (about ten feet!) there was a single bloom, and the breeze sent the fragrance sailing. It was downright magical. But everything here is, you know. No big surprise there. It started putting out little shoots that year, and I transplanted two to the roadside beds, where they’d have the afternoon sun. This is only the second year for lilacs out there, and this photo is one of dozens of blooms on that bush! I’m pretty happy about that.
Now, anybody who knows me knows that I am mad for Lilies. Day lilies. Oriental lilies. Asiatic lilies. Tiger lilies. Turk’s Cap and Trumpet lilies and Easter lilies. I love the lilies. All this wonderful stuff in spring is, for me, just the forerunner of summer when the lilies arrive. The day lilies are far earlier, of course, and I have different varieties that bloom from late spring right through the end of summer, but the others – the true lilies – don’t start until late June and continue through August. I was astonished to find that I they are up and out of the ground and growing like crazy!
It was a spectacular spring day,
as I wandered with the camera trying to capture bits and pieces to remember…
Here’s the creek – my little bit of paradise.
You can see that even the Rhodies are planning to make a grand entrance,
since they are already budding.
So glad to be able to share this place with all our wonderful guests.
Wishing you all a wonderful spring, and hope to see you here soonly!
~
