A Crime Scene on a Beautiful Day

Recently, Garden, the cat who does not belong to me, and I were walking near the lady garden when we came across a crime scene. 

That's gross! 

Garden couldn't stand it and covered her eyes.

Warning: the following image is graphic, so if you have a weak stomach, you better not look, either.The bloody guts, upon investigation, was actually red and white sap coming from a stump. Lou had cut down a tree. I have never seen a bleeding tree before, but I think this one qualifies!

Garden and I went looking for more pleasant things, and we saw this vignette in the lady garden:

We saw summer snowflakes, leucojum aestivan:

And many other lovely flowers:

Here's my watering can:

In the front garden we admired the weeping cherry tree:

We saw the Jane magnolia overlooking the woodland garden:

Then we entered the woodlands and got another perspective on the Jane magnolia:

Morning light shown across some spirea shrubs:

Gauzy spiderwebs hung like hammocks among the branches:

We stopped to look at some variegated ivy:

A treat for the eyes, blooming redbud trees were sweet as puffs of cotton candy:

Finally, on our way out of the woodlands, Garden stopped to speak to the rabbit:

We enjoyed our walk. The air was refreshing and the sights were beautiful, except for the crime scene. It was a day too fine for murder, and I told Lou he shouldn't have cut down that tree. A tree that bleeds will probably come back to haunt you.

Happy Spring!

Tiger in the Wild

I was almost attacked by a tiger yesterday. This is what happened:

I was spreading fresh pine straw in the woodland garden. Pine straw is a readily available mulch in my area. I love the way it neatens the planting areas, and it has a great smell. I was bent over, my head down as I spread the straw around some hydrangeas. A movement caught my eye, and I glanced up.

Garden the cat, who does not belong to me, was a few feet in front of me. Her belly was low, and she was creeping forward, stalking her prey. Obviously, the prey was me. She halted when she saw me looking at her.

"What are you doing," I asked, "playing tiger in the wild?"

Her eyes narrowed for a moment as her body tensed. Then she pounced.

I thought she was going to land on my head, but instead Garden dove headfirst into the pine straw, where she buried all of her body but her rear end and tail. She rolled over and over, kicking pine straw in every direction, until she finally landed on her feet. 

I laughed. "Well, you are frisky!" 

She came up to me, purring madly, and I had to spend a few minutes petting her and picking pine straw out of her fur.

Spring does that to you. Birds and bees and cats and people are all feeling the enthusiasm of the new season. Today I planted carrots, beets, and lettuce in the vegetable garden. Then I planted a few perennials, transplanted some columbine and foxglove, and fertilized everything in sight with fish emulsion. I'm afraid my yard smells fishy, and so do I. But I'm feeling good.

I also took some photos of my garden on this first official day of spring.  Here are a few shots of the lady garden:

This garden is only a couple years old and is in what I call the "little dot" stage, as all the plantings are still small. It is on a slight slope in a clearing in the woods, on the site of my children's old playground. It is my best effort at formality, but it will never be more than a pretender, like a lady dressed in finery but still wearing sneakers.

Colorful flowers and foliage are not hard to find:

I put my camera on the ground to take some photos of some grape hyacinths and got an ant's view:

And here is the woodland garden — see the fresh pine straw!

I hope all of you enjoy the new season. May you feel as frisky as a tiger in the wild!

You may also like: My garden friend, the cat and A spring tease.