SPRING/SUMMER - A TIME OF BEAUTIFUL BEGINNINGS AND A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF POLLEN

 

We live in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  The UP, as it is called.  It is surrounded by three of the Great Lakes - Superior, Huron and Lake Michigan. 

 Living up north, we do have longer winters.  We moved here from Wisconsin a few years ago and initially thought that the further north you went, the colder it was, and the more it snowed.  We are always amazed at how mild winters really are here in the UP.  We live close to the Bay - Green Bay/Lake Michigan and it seems that most approaching storms either go north or south of us. We only have a few inches of accumulation each winter and the temps rarely go below zero.  Winter type weather and sudden dips in temperature does come and go on until May.  So, that basically makes the growing season from June/July until Oct/Nov.  Which is pretty much we are used to as Midwesterners.  

So, when the tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths and all of the other bulbs you planted pop up, color begins to fill the ground where snow laid not long ago. Even when the temps still drop down at night, I'm always amazed and happy that these beautiful bulbs survive and thrive. 

Slowly but surely the daytime and nighttime temps start leveling out and all kinds of other plants start making their way out of the soil.  Reaching out for the warm sun.  

Not due to any expertise on my part - but it seems like when one blooming plant has lived out it's blossom life, another one kicks in...first tulips, then lilacs and fruit tree blossoms.  Then the big orange happy faces of the Poppies and the beautiful delicate purple Trillium.  The sturdy but short lived (little flowers) of the Lily of the Valley are up and smelling wonderful alongside the Iris.  All of the buds on the rose bushes are plumping up and starting to open revealing so many beautiful variations of color and size.  The Stella D'Oro's are getting ready and opening everywhere.  Next the Asian Lilies and fragrant Stargazer Lilies. And this year we were treated, for the first time, with Columbine flowers that made it through the winter and also a first, Fox Glove, and their beautiful purple and apricot bells.  I have quite a few Rudbeckias and they are all growing tall from under the Hosta and soon there will be their most amazing flowers.  Rudbeckias are pretty sturdy and last for weeks...in all kinds of orange, yellow and brown combinations. 

 I always plant a lot of seeds - how could you not?  When there is still snow on the ground all of these beautiful little packets of joy start appearing at all of the stores.  They give us all the joyful anticipation that spring and summer months will bring.   Lastly, all of the seeds that I planted are starting to make an appearance, Zinnias, Cosmos, Moon Flowers and beautiful, tall Hollyhocks.   Mixed into the seed plants are the sunflowers that the birds plant.  We have many bird feeders hanging from hooks above our perennial gardens - so, there are going to be sunflowers...I don't care, they are cheery little faces of sun.  

 Well, there are blooms popping out every day - but day by day there is a feeling that we're getting closer to the end of so many beautiful flowers and closer to fall.  

That's why I plant marigolds, mums, zinnias and decorative grasses - so that fall won't be all green and that there will still be color and flowers...

I have learned that it is okay to cut flowers and bring them inside to admire.  I do go outside each morning to see what is new - and I take a lot of pictures.  But, I wasn't the person that was cutting flowers at the peak of their beauty - until now.

We've had quite a rainy spring/summer this year and one day the blossoms would be beautiful and after the rain - they were so beat up...so, I started bringing in some of my beautiful flowers so that I could admire them every time I walked past them in the dining room.  

I love my gardens and all that they bring - bugs, butterflies, birds and the opportunity to take beautiful pictures to capture some of summer's color....