Random Shots Around The Farm

The Sunflower seeds were the first to come up although the bed had a big bare spot where nothing came up:

 The new Day Lily roots began to grow, but the reason I took this photo was to illustrate how fast the weeds grow here. This bed was weeded less than 24 hours earlier, and just look at all the new weeds coming up!

 The new baby fantail pigeon is looking good!

 And many other adults are nesting:

Out in the pasture, Buttercups and Common Fleabane are in bloom:

 A close-up of Common Fleabane:

 The shoot I rooted from the old fashioned rose I saved is blooming, though the parent plant is not yet flowering because I cut it back to about one foot high this year (as I also did the Rugosa Roses):

 I thought my little Magnolia died over the winter, but it has slowly come back to life and even produced one flower - a month or so late, but I'm still happy to see it:

The bigger of the two Ninebarks began to bud and put on quite a colorful show. I remember thinking last year that the buds were prettier than the flowers:

 I cut a vase full of Buttercups from the pasture and a vase full of purple Iris from beside the door and brought them to church:

 The little hens seem busy and enjoying life. They may not get out anymore, but life is otherwise very good for them:

 I planted the six new roses along the road and they are not yet growing much - but this one, called Carefree Beauty, has already bloomed. Apparently it really is carefree and that's a good thing, for I'm not much for providing a lot of care:

Gardening Gone Gonzo

All of my spring planting was finally finished, and the spot where I removed the big stump (well, most of it) has been a great spot to plant things:

 And what did I plant there? Oriental Poppies, Bachelor's Buttons, Yarrow, Chives, New York Asters, Globe Thistle and Gaillardia:

 The big stretch of garden I prepared along the dog fence has also been planted:

 I broke it up into sections to help me keep track of what's there. From left to right are last year's day lilies, this year's day lilies, Begonias/lilies/Peonies, Sunflowers (four varieties) and Armenian Basket Flowers:

The two new Bleeding Heart plants are blooming extravagantly:

 And because they did so well, I also planted Morning Glories there also:

 I had no trellis to use for the Morning Glories, so I put tomato cages there. If they grow more than that - well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it:

 And while planting the Morning Glories, I found a mutant Bedstraw plant with variegated leaves. I find such sports to be fun and interesting:

The two Flowering Crab trees and Golden Delicious apple trees put on a spectacular display, then faded away:

I put branches from the pink Prairie Rose flowering crab and Lilac blossoms in a vase to bring to church. In another vase, I put the common weed, Yellow Rocket. It is also called Winter Cress and is a species of wild Mustard:

 The Lilacs were great this year, but now I'll have to wait another year to see and smell them again:

Around The Farm

The fantail pigeons have been making nests and laying eggs, but so far nothing has come of it. I think it's still too cold:

The little hens have done pretty well at keeping their room reasonably clean, and they are both happy and healthy:

Fergus watched me weed the Day Lily bed, which runs alongside the dogs' fence:

And the Sunflower bed, which is adjacent to the Day Lily bed, was much easier to weed because nothing was planted there yet:

The Iris and Asiatic Lily bed was starting to grow, so I quickly weeded that also:

The farm sign was losing its paint, so I took it down and plan to hang it inside the barn:

The white and yellow Daffodils finally flowered:

They are beautiful. The pure yellow ones will bloom next, followed by the pure white ones:

Another of the six baby roses bloomed, this one with a very large bud. This is how it looked on day one:

On day two it put on quite a show:

On day three it was fully open and quite large, as you can tell by my hand in the picture. This variety is called Carefree Delight. I hope it lives up to its name:

And the Darlow's Enigma climbing rose put out one tiny, white flower. It is supposed to be a prolific and continuous bloomer, with vines which can sometimes cover a whole house. It may not do quite that well here in the far north, yet I still have high hopes for it:

Birds And Plants

Just when we thought spring had arrived, we got another cold spell. The fantail pigeons, though, stayed safe and warm in their room inside the barn:

The little hens, similarly, had their own room in the barn and hardly noticed the weather. I even turned on the light for them on dark, cloudy days:

There are now three Easter Egger bantams and seven Barred Rock bantams:

  The Barred Rocks are getting too old to be good egg layers, but that works out well for me as I have no use for lots of eggs:

The six little baby roses were positioned in the back room, next to a window. One of them, a variety called Watercolors Home Run, surprised me with a flower just a few days after they arrived:

 

It's a pretty, pastel color mix and apparently a highly floriferous variety. I'm already pleased with it:

The hardening off process has begun. On mild days, I put the little roses outside to become accustomed to our weather. After all, they surely were grown in a greenhouse:

The Day Lilies are emerging. Now I need to do some weeding:

And the old fashioned Iris are coming up. The big, modern Iris on the other side of the house have not yet emerged:

I let the little hens out for a day and they explored everywhere:

They pecked and scratched. They clucked and ran and flapped their wings. They lay on their sides and basked in the sun. A couple of them fought like roosters until I broke it up. Spring is arriving:

Dreams Of Springtime - Part 2

Yesterday I presented my excessive plans for planting seeds this spring, but I've also got roots and plants to put in the ground when it finally warms up. I have six Asiatic Lilies, mixed colors:

Four Day Lilies, Always Afternoon variety:

Four Day Lilies, Daring Dilemma variety:

Four Day Lilies, Eleanor Apps variety:

Six Day Lilies, Frosted Vintage Ruffles variety:

Six Delphiniums, mixed colors:

Four Echinacea, Purpurea variety:

Two Peonies, Coral Sunset variety:

Hardy rose, Carefree Delight:

Super hardy rose, Morden Snowbeauty:

Hardy rose, Watercolors Home Run:

Six Yarrow, mixed colors: