I noticed a hummingbird looking for a place to nest. She was checking out the trees in my front yard which looks especially appealing right now. The Clivias are blooming and one is a slightly lighter orange than I have ever seen. You can see the two shades below. They are putting on such a show this year with more blooming than usual. I wonder if that is what is attracting the hummingbirds.
Also blooming for the first time in three years is my Cymbidium. I repotted it about 5 years ago, but could not coax it to bloom until this year. You can see the clivias in the foreground and background. I love Cymbidiums but they have become scarce these last three years. All the local orchid growers decided to grow cannabis instead. I have two others that haven’t bloomed in the last four years now. The plants are alive so maybe they are too shaded in my garden. I’ll have to try relocating them to a spot that gets a touch of sun. My front yard is very shaded from the Chinese Elm making it an ideal spot in hot weather to sit outside. One of the Cymbidium plants, when it blooms, gives off a cinnamon scent. It has lovely golden brown flowers with dark maroon center.
Lastly, a very delicate flower, my hellebore or Lenten Rose, is now blooming. It has a very subtle shade to it and was not at all what I expected when I planted it. The buds appeared about two weeks ago and just yesterday, they finally started to open.
This year they have a pink color to them where as in the past they were almost a nude color. It may be that we have more sunlight in the front garden this year after trimming back a few trees. This area of my yard has a lot of leaf fall from the Chinese Elm. I tend not to rake up the leaves around the plants, leaving them for mulch and drought protection.
We used to have crows living in our Chinese Elm on the upper branches, but they cleared out a few years back and have not returned except for occasional visits. I miss their cawing in the morning. I still leave out large nuts for them in the upper area of my front yard with hopes of enticing them back.
The front yard is my fairy yard. It is full of various ferns, small ivy, violets and nasturtiums. They grow wild and basically untended, along with the spider plants that multiple as rapidly as the spiders in our yard. We used to have foxglove as well, but the drought took them out. I’d like to plant Canterbury Blue Bells if I can find a spot that will give them enough light.
Artist: Michelle the Painter, Michelle Iglesias
I wrote this little poem last March at the Spring Equinox and thought I would post it now.
I saw a fairy flying by on
a dandelion puff
She stopped by my window and said,
See you at Mid-Summer.
Reflections Outside My Window 