Peony

My peony lasted long enough for me to get home and bring it in the house to enjoy!  : ) 

Peony

Blooming at home, photo courtesy of Robby, here is my new species peony.  Robs and Candace got it for my Mother's Day last year.  Amazing it is blooming this first year in the ground. 

1 tulip

Gorgeous!

Sweet!

Dawn

My favorite time to walk in the garden is just after sunrise.

Dusk

My favorite time to work in the garden is just as the sun is setting.

Resurrection Sunday blessings

My garden is my quiet place of worship.  It is a labor of praise to Him who is Risen, the conqueror of death, the soon and coming King.  In the garden I work through my griefs, share my sin and sorrow and sickness, and come away strengthened.  The beauty of the garden this Easter Sunday is a picture of what He does there in my life.  Thanks be to Him who is able!

Blue jay

I enjoy the blue jays in our garden.  Most years we get one who hops about as if he were our pet, until some cat has him for dinner.  This year our friendly resident jay is already enjoying the garden delights.  A bit ago we were sitting outside and saw him drinking from the bird bath I made up of a clay pot and a decorative clay saucer.  It was the first time I had seen any bird at this one.  Very fun! 

Flowers on excel

Jerry has been encouraging me to learn excel, etc., so this morning I made a chart of the flowers from the April 1 list below and filled in which months they bloom in the colors of the blooms (more or less).  Not sure what to do about types like freesia of which I currently have four colors, but in this case I used purple since the majority are purple. 

April 1 flowers

Still blooming from February 1 are:
alyssum (as always)
Virginian stock, Malcomia maritima
penstemon
hellebore
pansies
wax begonias
carnations
rosemary
cyclamen
Continuing from March 1:
snapdragons
California poppies
roses
blueberries
forget-me-nots
corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'
a little orange geum
geranium 'Biokovo'
sparaxis (nearly done)
freesias
alstromeria
  New for April: 
Solomon seal
  Cherry blossoms
  Lilacs
  Viburnum
  Azaleas
  Calla lilies
  Corydalis ochroleuca
  Columbines
  Thyme
  Geum Mrs. Bradshaw
  "little tree" Solanum atropurpureum
  Holly (not exciting)
  Sweet peas
  Gaillardia
  Heuchera
  Ajuga
  Strawberries
  Ranunculas
  Impatiens
  Shirley poppies  
All budded up and ready to go:  orange tree, foxglove, ixia, peonies and astilbe
There was nothing that just came and went during the month