April 22, 2007

Allergy Season

In spite of the late freeze we had earlier this month, our crab apple survived (not so sure about our Star Magnolia and Japanese Maple) and is now in full bloom. I love the rich pink color. It's too bad the blossoms fall off fairly quickly, but with spring comes wind and rain (we're currently under a tornado watch). Our front porch is littered with tiny pink petals (and yellow pollen).





The garden phlox is also in full bloom. Pretty pinks and purples. This is such a lovely ground cover, requiring no attention whatsoever, other than admiration.

21 comments:

  1. Hmmm...crabapples! We used to have three in our "orchard" at home. My grandmother made the BEST crabapple jelly. It's all gone now. The last of it sugared last year.

    One of the many things I miss about her.

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  2. It's beautiful...which means I wouldn't be able to stand out in your yard for more than about, oh, two seconds. :)

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  3. I haven't had crab apples in ages! What a lovely shade of pink!

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  4. Anonymous11:23 PM

    So beautiful! The snow has only just (finally) melted where I live and nothing is blooming yet. It's just brown and ugly. I can hardly wait for the blooms to come through. This post has made me so wistful :)

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  5. Isn't spring glorious. If we didn't need the wind and rain it would be perfect. Your pictures are beautiful. I'm still waiting for my crabapple to bloom. It's getting close.

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  6. Anonymous6:08 AM

    Beautiful blossoms! What a lovely post to look at this morning.

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  7. It is getting nice out there. Soon the lilacs will be in bloom (that's when no one can convince me to go indoors again). Only trouble with flowers is, everyone's allergies come back full force. Ah well, you take the good, you take the bad....

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  8. Oh, my I don't know when we'll see pink! Those photos are lovely for my eyes. Thanks.

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  9. Anonymous12:05 PM

    Such pretty blooms! We have a poor Magnolia tree which I think is dying. I have no green thumb whatsoever. Our poor lawn and yard.

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  10. Your pictures are BEAUTIFUL!! I have 2 lilac trees beside my front porch that I LOVE. The colors, the fragrance, everything except the fact they only bloom for such a short period of time.

    I wish I had a green thumb!

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  11. Heather - This crabapple is a non-fruit bearing tree. Well, other than the little, messy berries that fall all over our sidewalk twice a year. The birds and squirrels love 'em.

    Do you have your grandmother's recipe for her jelly? It might be fun to make it with Ellie someday when she's a little bit older.

    Lisa - I'm surprised it isn't bothering me. My husband, on the other hand, has been sniffing and sneezing for a few weeks now. Of course he refuses to admit he has allergies, so I get to suffer through his denial. ;)

    Nat - I love this tree so much. It starts out with a brilliant pink, almost a fuschia, and then slowly fades to a softer pink. Simply lovely.

    Kristina - I'm hoping we've seen the last of snowy weather here, although it is Nebraska and we could have quite a storm anytime in the next 3 weeks. I'll keep my fingers crossed it's just rain and not snow.

    Booklogged - Yes! I love spring and fall best of all, but I also love those long, summer days filled with BBQs, ice tea on the porch, sun-filled mornings, and the feeling of joyful freedom. Winter... meh. I like the early snowfalls, but overall, I get a bit weary of the cold. I'd rather be hot. A cold beer just doesn't taste as good in the winter. ;) I'm glad you enjoyed the pictures. Thank you for the compliment.

    Robin - Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoyed the post.

    Kookiejar - I noticed a lot of buds on my lilacs when I was mowing this weekend. I do so love that fragrance and it seems like the entire neighborhood is filled with the heady scent for weeks!

    Nan - You're very welcome! Just wait another week or two and I'll have some pretty purples for you.

    Iliana - I suspect your Magnolia is the kind with the beautiful white blossoms, right? I posted some pictures of mine a week or so ago. It has pink flowers and looks a bit different than that southern Magnolia. I'm sorry you're having trouble with yours. I have no idea if they're tempermental, but ours got hit with a terrible freeze after it bloomed and is looking very sad these days.

    Stephanie - I love lilacs! We have a Miss Kim and another variation in our backyard, but I can smell them all the way up on our deck. I'd love to have one off our front porch, but I don't think it'd get enough sun. Thanks for the compliment on my pics. I'm still toying with the idea of a new camera later this year...

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  12. Gorgeous! I kill phlox. I don't know if it's the heat or that I planted it right, but I only tried once and have a different ground cover with inky blue flowers that is carefree. The pollen has been awful, here, but I can't stay inside. I just have to dig and watch the birds. :)

    So glad you're back to posting, Les!!!

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  13. Les, I'll have to ask my aunt if she has it. Ellie still remembers her a little bit and it would be great to make it with her someday and add to those memories. And it just tastes SO good!

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  14. Nancy - I have some phlox (and I'm speaking of the ground cover variety and not the kind on tall stems that tend to have problems with mildew) that hasn't done as well as those I photographed. The area that does well gets a lot of sun and not too much water. The other area (the area of trouble) is more shady and stays a bit damper. So maybe it's not so much the heat but more where you've planted it. Isn't gardening fun. ;) I have some periwinkle ground cover that is very easy and hardy (read: invasive!). Why is it that the easy plants are so much more likely to take over that entire yard?!

    Thanks for the welcome back. It didn't really seem like I'd been away from posting for very long. Just wait 'til July when I'm gone for two weeks! Eeeek! How will I survive that?!

    Heather - I've never had crabapple jelly, but I'll bet it's yummy. I plan to make strawberry jam this summer. I always say that I will, but never get around to it. Now that I have my food blog, I'm bound and determined. I was determined to learn how to makee paella, crab cakes, shrimp bisque and pot stickers. So far, I've done all but the pot stickers. So those and the jam are on the To Do list this summer.

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  15. Beautiful. I once was told that this time of year we are all walking around in flower sex. Hahaha. It's true. I'm allergic to flower sex.

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  16. I would love those little pink flowers/leaves, petals (I'm not exactly a botonist!) on my porch. If I had a porch. Which I'd also love. Sigh...My yard is just not as beautiful as yours. But, we do have a Japanese Maple, which remains to be seen if it will recover, much as yours.

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  17. Oh my goodness, look at all those pink flowers, they are beautiful Les! Yes, such a pity about the magnolia,they don't bloom for very long do they?

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  18. Anonymous11:13 AM

    Les,
    I love your pics! I just happened across your blogspot and my mouth dropped open when I saw you were from Lincoln..me too! Just had to say HI!

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  19. Christy - Too funny! :)

    Bellezza - I love our porch! It's pretty much what sold me on the house. I think before I even stepped foot inside, I thought, "Oh, I love this porch! I have to have this house!!"

    Lotus - We've had such heavy rain these past few days, all the petals are droopy, if not already fallen on the sidewalks and driveway. Oh, well. Maybe we wouldn't appreciate the beauty if we were surrounded by it year-round.

    Kit - What a surprise to see someone from Lincoln! Thanks for commenting. I see you don't have a blog to go to, otherwise I'd check it out. How in the world did you find mine?? Where abouts do you live. I'm near Sheridan Elementary.

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  20. Anonymous3:33 PM

    Hey Les,

    I was over at Stephanie's blog because she is on an O group that I go to and so I came over to see what the blogs were all about and I found out that there is this whole reader world overhere. Wow!

    I am by Mahoney park. Nothing like the beauty in your neighborhood but the park can be pretty!!! kit

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  21. Kit - I was stunned when I first started blogging and discovered all these readers! I've belonged to a few Yahoo Groups devoted to reading for over ten years, but blogging has expanded my reading world (and my TBR list)! It's a lot of fun and I've "met" some wonderful people -- many of whom I'd call very good friends.

    Thanks again for stopping by here and saying hi!

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