Time to Replant

Like most Northern gardens, mine took a huge hit this past winter!  It was so brutally cold for so long with so much snow that even plants that normally survive a cold winter died.  Now that spring is here, I took a long walk around the property to assess the damage.  It was not pretty.

I lost three rhododendrons

My dogwood didn't bloom

 My hydrangea got fried

 I lost four of my nine knockout roses

 and the ones I did not lose are going to need some MAJOR pruning!

 My azaleas didn't fare so well either.  I only lost one of four, but the three surviving ones look a bit peaked

 But all in all the landscaping looked pretty good.  My coral bells all did well, 

My peonies are getting ready to bloom

The evergreens all did well and are thriving!

The phlox is blooming away...pretty in pink!

 And I even spied a nest of baby robins in the alcove near my front entrance!

And I did all this surveillance under the ever watchful eye of Gretchen and Laci :-)

So my first act was to replace the dead rhododendrons.   I found these beautiful white ones at the local nursery and in the ground they went.  The blooms on them are just gorgeous.  I love white flowers. . . any kind of white flowers.

 While I was working I had this plump bumble bee visit me and these beautiful blooms.

Since I don't have a vegetable garden here in my Northern home,  I will get my gardening fix playing in the dirt in my landscape beds.  With a view like this every day, I think I can live with that :-)

Home!

Yay!  Harry and I are finally home in Michigan.  We arrived here the last weekend in April and settled in rather quickly . . . like within three days :)  It's a long drive from Texas - 21 hours drive time and 1360 miles.  But it's oh so worth it to be home!

The weather was still a bit chilly when we arrived.  Temperatures were in the mid 50's.  But when we left Texas, the temperatures were approaching the mid 80's-low 90's so to me, this weather is just fine!

The plants in my landscaping were just beginning to bud out after we arrived.  My poppies just popped out of the soil and will bloom shortly.  We did loose a few azalea bushes due to the extremely long, cold winter Michigan just experienced.  But I will visit one of the local nurseries very soon to replace the shrubs that didn't survive this winter.

Just before we left last fall, I planted some black tulip bulbs and they, too, are beginning to poke their lovely heads up out of the soil.  I'll be anxious to see what these beauties look like.

Same goes for the Forget-Me-Nots my brother-in-law gave me last fall.  These are such happy little plants.  They make me smile every time I look at them.  And they spread like wildfire too.  These will quickly fill in as ground cover where I planted them.

And as you can see, Gretchen and Laci have settled in nicely as well.  They love it here and seem to be as happy here as I am.

But on a much sadder note . . . we lost our beloved Tyson last fall.  When we returned to Texas in October, Tyson could barely walk.  He was miserable and our only choice was to relieve him of his misery and put him to sleep.  That was one of the most difficult things Harry and I ever had to do.  He was with us for nearly 14 years and I loved him so very much.  There is definitely an empty space here in Michigan without him. 

I simply cannot believe the birds I have this year!  It's incredible.  It's worth a separate post but just quickly I have had red breasted grosbeaks (male and female), Baltimore AND bullock Orioles (male and female), gold finches, blue birds, red wing blackbirds and hummingbirds visiting my feeders.  If you look closely at this blurry photo, you can see two male Red Breasted Grosbeaks and one female.  

And here are two male Red Breasted Grosbeaks and one male Baltimore Oriole.  They are so much fun to watch.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is:  I am so very happy to be home here in Michigan!  So please, stay tuned :)