Morning, Garden

This cardinal was facing east and singing on the morning sun as I enjoyed my first coffee out on the back porch this morning. I think he was perched on more or less the same branch I saw the oriole yesterday.

It's great that the season's getting to that transitional point when sitting outside with the first cup is comfortably possible. I so greatly prefer the cardinal's song to the Today show or the Weather Channel.

I thought I'd share a glimpse of the future with you today, now that the morning glory seedlings are getting a little bigger. There are seven of this class doing very well.

Something (probably feline) happened to the eighth one, but I'm not making much of an Agatha Christie moment out of it. Especially since a fresh batch of them should be sprouting shortly.

Although they were slow to do too much of anything (they were planted a day before the morning glories), you can see there's now also a nice crop of cleome seedlings coming along (you know, I believe they are the purple-flowered version, come to think of it).

They are just about the size where I ought to be thinking about thinning them, but since I expect to plant them out in a week or so, I'll take a chance that they'll continue to co-exist just fine in the small space for the nonce.

I brought the second mug of coffee out to the front yard with me, so I could give the garden a nice soak while continuing to work on rejoining the Waking World for another day.

We had a luncheon on the work schedule today and there was banking to be done on the way in, so I needed to get out and about relatively early...but there was still time for a bit of a prowl along the garden border...from whence cometh today's Floral Moment of Zen.


I'm a little sad to say I won't have the purple of our own lilacs to share with you this year. They are blooming now, but that doesn't include our sad little shrub, who'd grown a little gawky in the shady spot it languished in the past few years. This one will need a little tough love, now it's got a full-sun spot in which to flourish.

In the weeks ahead, my plan is to take out the two oldest and thickest branches in the center which are my height, and then prune down the remaining branches just a little...which should get some side branching happening over the summer, which might bloom next year (lilac only does so on old wood...don't laugh, i'm serious...).

Fear not, I'll be looking for some lovely lilacs to photograph for you this weekend, as they are coming into their prime around here...and I do enjoy spending time in their company.

Meanwhile, I was a little astonished to see that this clump of carnation is already showing a pair of flower shoots and signs of budding.

Behold, the power of the sun!