It's Magnolia Time!

I love our magnolia! It's so beautiful.

It's a very unusual shape, and it might be a shrub instead of a tree. I wish it would get bigger.

Look at the little leaves trying to come out!

The man of the house with his new baby! :)

It was a very exciting day in the garden. So I made the rounds with the camera. :) (I just turned over 5,000 pictures taken on my camera... phew!)

I had given up this rosemary for dead. But I'm pretty sure those are buds on the stems.

Happy Returns, making its happy return.

Tulip! I think the leaves look and feel like a sedum. :)

Hemerocallis fulva, the common roadside lily, multiplying like crazy. This is the main clump.

My first dianthus.

Granny's dianthus.

It's so close to opening!

Here's the columbine. Look at the little buds!

This is Russian sage, right? Anyway, it's sneaking up too. It started a little later than the others. I guess I should chop off last year's remains? I wasn't sure earlier, but it seems to be starting over rather than growing off of last year's branches.

My Little Italy and Siloam Red lilies.

I am in love with this Lysimachia now that it's coming back up! It looks much better than when I shoved it into the ground.

This is the white and purple iris, for which I havne't found a name yet.

I've dubbed this my Serrated Sedum. I love that it's just this little mound right now. :)

My other irises and some Kerry sedum. The iris up front, the enormous one, is Princesse Caroline de Monaco. To the right and behind a bit is Before the Storm, and to the left is Las Vegas.

Kerry sedum!

Bleeding Heart is growing really quickly.

The creeping phlox just hibernates and uses the same foliage from last year. (So does the dianthus. I think that's so funny.)

The coral bells are coming back and looking colorful.

A huge plot of Las Vegas irises on the other side of the porch.

This might be my favorite picture that I've taken for a while. It came out so well! My little grape hyacinth.

Tulips!

And these are my two Stella d'Oro lilies that I got on clearance (at the beginning of the season??)! Welcome, me hearties! I started nagging at Dan this morning about a new, extended flowerbed that will be dedicated entirely to lilies -- Stellas will be a prominent feature. A coworker told me that I can come over and clip whatever I want from her extensive garden, so I might not even have to buy all of them! :)

And finally, the nursery set my Stellas in this flat box for the car, and of course Elphaba LOVES it. She immediately set up shop in it. :)

O hai!

I am pleased to introduce... Orchid Phalaenopsis!

Isn't she beautiful?

Her flowers were among the bigger ones on the plants I had to choose from.

Okay, sorry. I just can't get enough of her. :)

An Ode to Clumping Cat Litter

No, I didn't really write one. But I should. It deserves way more credit than it gets. We tried to go the thrifty route and got TidyCats litter in a bag for about $5, thinking we were being so smart, until we realized that the critical words "clumping" and "scoopable" were missing from the packaging. Eek!

Anyway, we went to the hunting camp this past "weekend," and had a blast! The weather was perfect!

Dan's rifle blind, which he made himself, is the biggest and (though I'm biased) the best on the property!

It has a chimney...

... because there's a stove inside for warmth!

Someone's old desk chair provides seating, though it's a little squeaky. I guess if you're hunting in earnest you have to be absolutely still.

Two corners have these little shelves, which both have a notch cut in them to rest your rifle in.

He's so proud.

He did some work on his apple trees, which are behind chicken wire so that the deer and elk don't harvest them prematurely.

Dan showing off the remnants of a Monster can, which was exploded by guess who...

Yours truly!! I did some target shooting with a .22. This can was full of water when I made my first shot, which is why it exploded.

On Day 1 it was a Bud Light can.

That baby never stood a chance.

And now onto the more mundane...

Here's what I consider to be an artsy picture. Isn't it beautiful? A brandy glass filled with chocolate milk. Mmmm.

And of course we have the Lazy.

Pitiful!

And out in the yard, my plants are coming up like crazy!! I have determined that this is indeed my Lysimachia. It's funny how it's so red-tinged when it's coming up. It's wearing off as it gets bigger. It really looked like a red sedum a few days ago!

I forgot what all that grass was until today, when I noticed the little flowers! It's my grape hyacinth!

My little tulips are budding! This fact inspired a little jig that I hope the neighbors didn't see, and subsequently an excited call to my mom. :)

That's last year's poor Dusty Miller in the background. I think it's time to tear it out.

My bleeding heart is making a comeback!

And finally, SOMEONE keeps nibbling on my hibiscus!! Can you guess who it might be?

This flower actually lasted longer than most. (Do you like my Aquaglobe? I heartily recommend them, but if you have them in a tropical plant, they definitely don't last the advertized week.)