ABC Wednesday: Looking Up

Oh, it is Spring! Looking through my files of photos, I do have some O's for this week's ABC post.

First, we have Oleander. A common shrub across the world from the Mediteranean region to southern China, this particular plant was photographed in Arizona.

Oleander shrubs are seen everywhere in Arizona from home landscaping to highway plantings. They can even grow as trees as in the picture above. As beautiful and long-blooming as they are, I'm not sure I would want them in my own backyard. A member of the dogbane family, oleander is highly toxic.

I don't have to look beyond my yard, however, to find the next O--my grand old oak tree that I've determined is over 200 years old. I've used this tree before in several posts, including an ABC post last fall, using its botanical name Quercus Macrocarpa. This photo was taken last summer, however; it's just beginning to show the faint signs of green leaves right now.

While the majestic old oak is my favorite tree, in the spring I'm partial to the redbuds. I've discovered, though, that capturing the almost fluorescent lavender of its spring blooms is nearly impossible on a sunny day, and a cloudy day isn't much better.

After a beautiful but windy weekend, the clouds rolled in with rain for the past two days. You can see the redbud to the right in this picture. Yes, in the springtime it's my favorite tree . . .

. . . or maybe this pink flowering crabapple is my favorite. Once all the blooms open up, it's magnificent.

Of course, it's hard to choose between the pink crabapples and the red ones. (There's a sprig of redbud to the left that shows its color!)

But there's also something to be said for the white crabapple. Oh, it's so hard to choose--I just love them all!

This week, as April moves into May, is one of my favorite times of the year as all the flowering trees burst into bloom, and the long lane leading to our house looks like something out of a fairy tale. Sadly, though, this year the fairy tale didn't end happily ever after. I took all these photos on Saturday and Sunday, and by Monday I noticed many of the blooms had blown to the ground and no new ones were opening up. The red crabs bloomed for two days at the most, and the pink ones had only a few blooms. The white crabapple looks pretty good above, but it's at least a week earlier than last year and not nearly as full of blooms.

Last year this is what my driveway looked like on the first of May, with the white crabapple still waiting to blossom. Beckie and I were talking today about the lack of flowering crabapple blooms this year. Another local blogger, Joyce, commented last week that her crabapples had been hurt by the cold winter. It makes me sad to think this year I won't see the same view as above. But at the same time, Beckie commented how much better her plum tree looks this year, and I've noticed that all the magnolia trees seem to have blossomed earlier this year without the all too often damage from frost. I guess it just shows that Mother Nature can surprise us at any time.

Speaking of surprises, by far the biggest surprise this spring has been the two old apple trees--they are literally bursting with blooms. I have never seen them bloom like this; I wonder if that means if they will have even more apples this year? Actually, I hope not--I still have a freezer full of applesauce:)

What's even more surprising to me is that one of these apple trees is still standing. You can see the huge hollow area in its lower trunk; I'm worried that a strong storm one day might be the end of this apple tree. But then again, one never knows--Cheryl also posted about her beautiful old apple tree on Monday, complete with a similar hollow.

While I've spent sunny days lately looking downward, digging in the dirt and looking for new growth in the garden, it's good to look upward and see blooms sent from above.

To see more ABC posts, you can visit here.

Redbuds and Rants

I am constantly amazed by the people who manage to write a new post everyday and still have time to read other blogs. So today instead of lots of photos and trying to write anything profound, I will just share my journal entries so far this week.

Monday:

• Beautiful day. Cleaned up area near roadside for new flowerbed expansion. Tried to start new tiller to till up bed.
• Planted kohlrabi and sweet basil in vegetable garden which husband tilled on Sunday. Tried to start new tiller.
• Weeded back yard. Tried to start new tiller.
• Painted part of buggy seat which will sit in main flowerbed. Tried to start new tiller.
• Husband came home from work and started tiller on first try.
• Husband tilled up part of new flowerbed, then turned it over to me.
• Finished tilling flowerbed; no need to exercise today.

Tuesday:

• Another beautiful day. Planted new perennials in new roadside area. Storms forecast for tomorrow. Hope new plants don't get hailed on.
• Painted rest of buggy seat.
• Too tired to exercise.

Wednesday:

• Rainy day. Perfect for getting my hair cut and shopping for a new outfit to wear to daughter's graduation this weekend.
• Get hair cut--lookin' good for shopping!
• Visit major department store #1. Pass up the sleeveless dresses (should have kept up with those dumbbell exercises this winter). Pass up the bold geometric prints and baby doll dresses that look like something Twiggy used to wear. (For you young ones out there, Twiggy was the Kate Moss of the '60's.) Find one dress possibility and several jackets and tops. Head to fitting room with armload of clothes. (Experience has taught me out of 10 outfits tried on, I'm lucky if one looks good on me.)


• Try on polka dot dress with red shrug. Doesn't look too bad. Turn around for rear view. Never mind--dress goes back on hanger. Try on gray pantsuit--a definite possibility and on sale besides. Jacket fits, pants are a little snug--can I lose ten pounds by Sunday? Try to sit down and find that the pants are low-rise and fastener on waistband cuts into navel when I sit. Back onto hangar. After several more outfits, decide white trapeze jacket has possibilities. Will put it on hold.


• Visit two more stores. No dresses worth trying on, so settle for checking out jackets and dressy tops. Empire waist tops and floating tops should camouflage midriff bulge. Dressy blue top is very comfortable, but makes me look six months pregnant. Finally decide to buy two tops, but they're too casual for graduation.


• Finally go back to store #1 and purchase jacket put on hold. Today is senior discount day, and though I'm not a senior citizen, their cut-off age is very low, plus I have fake I.D. in case they question me. Nobody asks for I.D. I get the 20% discount.
  
• Final stop at Walmart for some basic necessities. On my way to pick up antacid and dental floss, I pass by dietary aids. I pause for a moment and decide to forego buying some Slim-Fast. The chocolate doesn't taste bad, though, when accompanied by a Big Mac and fries. I notice a new diet plan displayed prominently in center aisle. It promises to "flush" away pounds in days. After imagining for a few moments how this might work, I put box back on shelf. My digestive system is very delicate as it is; no need to invite more problems. Waiting in the check-out line I have time to peruse several magazines. I'm intrigued by the headline that promises a 30-lb. weight loss by Memorial Day (c'mon, who's that gullible?). I have time to read the whole article; the culprit apparently is high fructose corn syrup, and listed are many products containing it. I put back magazine and decide on a salad for supper.
  
• Stop to exercise at Curves before going home.

Author's commentary: Shopping for clothes used to be fun for me. Now it's a chore. When I find something I like, I usually discover that I am in the petite department or that it is only available up to a size 8. (I am neither.) When are clothing companies, other than a few more expensive specialty brands, going to realize that my generation--the Baby Boomers--make up the largest segment of the population? When will they give us some flattering choices other than clothes that make us look either like ridiculous teenage-wannabes or else frumpy matrons?

I think too many mainstream clothing designers are still following the Barbie principle. But Barbie is going to turn 50 next year! And even my "skinny" friends complain about their thickening waistlines; nobody I know has an 18-inch waist, for heaven's sake.

Thursday AM: Getting ready to go shopping again, but this time with Beckie and shopping for plants. Should be a good day. All plants come in my size.

Oh yes, the redbuds...As you can see, the blossoms are slowly giving way to green leaves. I am always a little sad to see the lovely pink-purple blooms go, but thank you to whoever told me to notice that the leaves are actually heart-shaped. Also when the tree is covered with leaves, that means the hummingbirds are on their way!

Have a good day, everyone!