After the Storm

I wish I could share with you how wildly delicious this honeysuckle smells in the yard today. We had strong storms last night and this is what I woke up to just outside the bedroom window. I'm so glad I slept with the window open. I heard the rain come down really hard about 5am so I checked the doppler radar on my laptop. Tornado warnings but mostly south of us. No limbs down, just a light spring breeze to carry these wonderful scents all around me.


The antique climbing rose above the front gate is just starting to bloom. Before long it will be filled with wonderful light pink gifts from Mother Nature. I love how that happens!

I guess I can be called an "Accidental Gardener". I'm not one for formal gardens - they just don't fit with this old farm house or my sense of style. I usually like the natural look but this year I've decided to give it a little nudge. I love anything that pops up from plantings that were put in many years ago by chance or previous gardeners. Last year the electricity or phone or cable company cut a swath underneath the power lines from the road to the fence line by the driveway. Just a few days ago, I noticed a small stand of Rose Campions growing in that spot along with the weeds, poison ivy and underbrush.



This morning, out I went with my trusty rubber boots and a shovel to dig a few of them up and transplant closer to the house. Parts of our yard were starting to look quite bare after the long drought we've had. Then any rains we had washed away the soil around the trees so I had 8 yards of topsoil brought in to surround 4 of the large oak trees. I've mainly been planting shade loving plants but I've noticed certain naturalized plants growing in these areas so I'm adding those in with the hostas and canna lilies. It's been fun moving things around and digging in the dirt. It's still all looking a little bare in the new beds but I'm pretty confident that it will be glorious come next spring.