Though it still is not very warm, the longer hours of sunlight and the above freezing temps have coaxed the magnolia into bloom. We called these Tulip Trees when I was a kid. In fact, my mother used to make that scoffing sound that she excelled at when someone called trees like this magnolia. “You can grow magnolia this far north. Those are tulip trees.” Turns out tulip trees are magnolias. This tree was probably planted when the house was built in 1926. It is stately and beautifully shaped. When I first bought this house, there was an enormous spruce that dwarfed not only the house, but this lovely flowering tree. I had it removed and the magnolia has been thanking me each spring with her beautiful scented blossoms. I’ve noticed that often when people drive down the street they slow down and look at the magnolia in bloom.
The cat discovered Nepeta subsessilis Cool Cat – Catmint today. This cousin to catnip has never really attracted her before.
Perhaps the new leaves a
re more appealing.
I’ve enjoyed the migrating birds that are passing through the garden this spring. A brown Thrasher has been hanging around, scratching at bugs on the ground in the rose medallion. My neighbor has seen several rose breasted grosbeaks. And this afternoon I’m pretty sure I saw a hermit thrush. It, too, has been pecking at the ground in the rose medallion. There’s a coopers hawk that makes the rounds and two redtailed hawks have made a nest a few doors down at he top of a pine tree. My neighbor has also seen warblers. She’s a wild life biologist, so I believe every word she tells me. 🙂
Garden 337 