Dear Kay,
In honor of Earth Day, here’s a ramble through my yard. This has been the greenest spring in the history of Nashville. Surely.
A match for Jill Draper’s Rifton, in the colorway Spring. Which I happen to be knitting right now.
The magnolia buds are as hard as hand grenades.
Moss growing on lichens.
The honeysuckle in the warm sun.
The hellebores haven’t given up.
The hostas.
Roses.
Mahonia.
Some flowers are already done. This tulip dropped its petals soon after I took this photograph.
The fig tree, which damn near died in the hard winter two years ago, has launched a confused, early fig.
The ants are busy getting the peonies ready.
Finally, here’s the oak tree I planted last spring. It has doubled in size, from two feet to four feet. The oak tree behind it is 90 years old. The barred owl lives there, in a big hole on the far side.
If you’re looking for something to make you feel great, planting a tree is right up there.
Love,
Ann
What a lovely post, Ann!
Here in Wiltshire we are having a chilly spring this year, and it is so cheering to know that honeysuckle is blooming somewhere, even if not here just yet.
If ever I would leave you,
How could it be in springtime?
Knowing how in spring I’m bewitched by you so?
Oh, no! not in springtime!
Summer, winter or fall!
No, never could I leave you at all!
How I feel about living in Nashville for the last 26 years! Thank you, Robert Goulet.
PS Great photos, Ann!
Yes! I moved from NYC back here in 1990, too, Judy. It felt then like I was dropping off the face of the earth, but now I can’t imagine living anywhere else.
Earworm!
Now before I find myself running through a loop of the entire score of Camelot, I’m going to have to serenade the goats with my special medley of “My Shot” and “Quiet Uptown.” Again.
Next stop: Camelot.
Lovely! What are you making with the yarn?
Agreed…please share!
It’s the Belinda Wrap from our second book, MDK Outside the Lines. Original pattern calls for Rowan Kidsilk Haze, and I’ve always wanted to try this in a heavier yarn. We’ll see how it looks; am currently mesmerized by the slow color shifts!
We in the chilly north thank you.
I second that!
I am loving this spring as well. Come visit my lilacs, candytuft, and roses; they’re beautiful too.
Your post is like a breath of fresh air this morning in a cool, cloudy Maine. I am thoroughly enjoying Modern Daily’s return to regular posting. I knit a tiny bit on occasion, but it’s your friendship and willingness to share that make me feel like I am welcome.
In my back yard in Virginia, the hostas are also unfurling. The azaleas are an intense riot of color, the lilacs are perfuming the air, the shy lily of the valley smell sweet and seductive, and the dandelions are taking over the world.
Agreed! It drives my husband crazy how he mows the yard one day and the next day the yard is covered in dandelion puffs. It’s amazing how quickly they pop.
You have a breba crop of figs! (Or at least one.) Just learned about that this year here in Virginia. http://www.treesofjoy.com/content/breba-bonus-figs-crop
Tremendous! I’ve lived here for fourteen years and never noticed spring figs until I saw this one. Thank you!
Very interesting information about the breda crop. Thank you.
Oops! Breba.
This post, and those photos have made my morning! Spring is a little late here (southern Ontario), but the forsythia across the road has finally shown some yellow bloom. And the crocuses have recovered from being covered in snow. Thank you for sharing this. And I DO plan to plant a new tree in the backyard, once I can dig the hole (eye surgery for retinal tear means I ease up on gardening for the month).
Ann, I loved this wander through your yard! I could almost smell the honeysuckle. We’re considerably behind you, but the wave of Spring Greening is just about to roll right over the landscape here.
I never knew the name of mahonia but it figured largely in the healthy outdoor play of my childhood. I’m waiting on matching peonies here in Richmond …
Thank you for that lovely advance preview of spring for those of us still waiting in New England.
Beautiful! Your post reminds me of Memphis. Lived there when I was little and go back to visit the family every chance I get. Sadly the Texas hill country and all the deer would have a wonderful feast if I had any of those beauties in my yard. Thanks for sharing your gorgeous gifts of nature.
Wow! You are so far ahead of us in eastern MA. My tulips are just coming up (and some other bulbs whose names I don’t recall).
I live in NC where Spring is in full force. But am visiting family in the farm country of Northwest Ohio. The young wheat is green, the trees arejustbeginning to bud, and you can still see what seems to be a million miles. It’s not magazine travelogue beauty but beauty nonetheless. I loved your photos of Nashville!
Spring is in full force in Oregon, too. But your photos make me miss Nashville! It’s my second home and last time I was there was the dead of winter. At least I missed your snowstorms.
thank you! such a beautiful tour!
After 5 decades in the south, I relocated to Montana. And springtime means masses of lilacs. They are like weeds here and everyone has them in their yards and bordering their yards in the alleyways. My daughters hope I don’t get arrested as I walk down the street, sniffing everyone’s lilacs.
What a feast of Nature and color for a New Englander’s eyes! Happy Earth Day, indeed! Thank you!
Wonderful to see the signs of spring. Here in great frozen north of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we have snow in the forecast again. You and Kay are always inspiring and this post will be great to look at when things turn white around here. And tell spring it’s time to move north.
Gorgeous photos! Beautiful inspiration! Happy Earth Day!
You have a barred owl living in your yard??? Wow. Just wow! They tend to stick to bigger areas of much wilder land up here (upstate NY). Nashville truly is a magical place!
How grand! Spring is such an accomplishment this year for us too – and I play my part in it all just by seeing, listening and reading!
Thanks so much
I planted a tree yesterday with my three little children. I’m thirty years old, but it was the first tree I ever planted. Sure made me feel great. I think I’ll make a habit of it.
Nice post, Ann. Yes, what a beautiful spring it’s been in Nashville! If only the summer would feel as perfect as today. Sigh. I want to find yarn the colors of that mahonia. Perfection.
Yes! Here’s hoping we have a freakishly mild summer, too.
Lovely! As another poster mentioned, we have had spring blooms for a while here in Western Oregon. The rhododendrons have started putting on their massive spring show…always so beautiful. Speaking of Oregon, the common name for “Mahonia” is Oregon Grape, and it is the state flower of Oregon. I also just found out from Wikipedia that there are multiple varieties of it. “Among these are tall Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium); Cascade, low, dull, or dwarf Oregon grape (M. nervosa); and creeping Oregon grape (M. repens).” “Mahonia Nervosa” sounds like an Addams Family name!
I love spring! Your yard looks a lot like mine right now. I’m thrilled with my newly blooming irises. I was a bit surprised today to find some new blooms on my helebore which I thought was through for the season. I’m also loving my wild columbine and lily of the valley which reminds me of where fairies must live.
First thoughts:
Antihistimines and tissues.
Backpedaling:
I mean, simply Lovely!!! And it is. (I never had hay fever till I moved to Tennessee…)