The crocus, grape hyacinth, and tulips have bloomed. The petals from the Mother’s Day tulip are on the ground turning to compost. The forget-me-nots are softening the stark rock look.
Attention now turns to the clematis blooms.
At the historic cemetery, the little clematis transplant is making itself at home. It is starting to wrap around the starter trellis. Made my plant mama heart very happy. I think it needs some mulch to keep the weeds at bay.
We have two fairly good-sized shamrock plants in pots here. Most summers they can be seen in the area under the linden. One is purple and one is green.
Every fall I bring them into the house, and they eventually go into my office. They give me all-winter mini flowers, and occasionally I hear rustling in late fall from a ladybug who made it in with the shamrocks, usually the purple one.
I cannot say how long I have had the Shamrocks. Probably close to, if not over 15 years now. I remember buying them one St. Patrick’s season, at the grocery store across town. They were in those tiny 3-4″ pots, and very inexpensive. I thought it would be “fun” 😊 My husband and our younger son teased that Yes! We definitely needed more plants! Hahaha!
I have given divisions to other people and they haven’t done well. But those two shamrocks are very healthy here.
There have been years where I have been sooooo looking to get the shamrocks back outside. This year is not one of them. They are very happy inside this year.
But alas! They are part of the ecosystem here. In the spring they go out, and the robins pluck the dead stuff for their nests. Eventually the wind gets to them, and all the leaves die back, and then it is just soil until they grow back and fill in stronger than ever.
It looks like the robins are starting to pair up. I am thinking they will be starting to build their nests soon. The bird bath should go out today so they can have water to make mud, and the shamrocks could go out next week after our forecasted cool and rainy weekend.
When we do move them out, I will miss them in my office, but they are starting to get that “good material for birds nests” look. Yes, I put some egg shells in there. Another post about those on the way.
The first clematis bloom opened Tuesday. Always a wonderful sight. Hopefully many more blooms to come.
I am reminded of the years where we kept a very tall trellis in that spot. Funny thing about clematis. They are kind of like work. They expand to fit the time (or space) allotted. We let that one get so big a bird built a nest in it, and we could see inside the nest from inside the window. We called them the “trillers” because they would trill each time Mama approached. Eventually we watched them get big and strong and leave the nest. It doesn’t take long, but it was fun to watch.
This year, I hear something that sounds like a bird in the gutter. I wish I had a drone. I could fly it high and zoom in. I don’t want to climb up on a ladder and try to see. We’ll just wait. Time will tell. It doesn’t seem like an ideal place to nest, but we’ll see.
Susan's Daily Garden 