Late bloomers

Looks like there were quite a few that liked my "Road House" entry. I guess that one was for the ladies! <wink>

Wow, it turned out to be a lovely day, lots of sun and low 70's here! Tomorrow is supposed to be much of the same, and Ken will be able to get out and mow the lawn tomorrow. (He's getting in really late tonight, so he'll stay at home tomorrow. He was able to get some "work" work done this weekend at the hotel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. I guess I'm almost done with being able to use Saskatoon, Saskatchewan so frequently. Don't worry...I'll find a way to throw it in here and there in the future!) I was able to sit outside for a little while today and catch a few rays. In a month, we'll be in Florida for a week, so I need to get a little bit of sun on me!

I saw the neatest thing when I went out to get the paper this morning. I should say I heard the neatest thing. As I walked along the path out to the driveway (it's getting a really nice covering of moss, and I just love that), I heard a woodpecker pecking in the trees. It was right by the path and sounded like he was right there, but I couldn't see him! There is a dead tree there, one that fell across the driveway this past year, and there's about 8 feet or so still standing. We leave dead trees down as long as they aren't blocking anything, because they're great nesting sites. I walked a little farther, trying to see where this bird was. I finally saw the tip of his tail, and walked the other way to see his entire body...nothing! It was like he was there, but he wasn't! I finally walked all the way to the side of the tree facing away from the pathway, and my mystery was solved. A bird had pecked a hole into the dead tree, and he or she was so far in, that only the tip of the tail was sticking out of the tree! It was so cool--it was a perfectly drilled hole, 2 inches in diameter max, and the bird was still in there pecking away and excavating for a nest. I'm assuming that it was a woodpecker, but I never saw anything except the tip of the tail, so I can't say for sure. I'm glad we leave our fallen trees, because it was neat to see a nest under construction!

I got a few flowering tree pictures yesterday, and I've included them in My Pictures. I'll put a couple up here--big ones so you can see details--with some commentary.

This is a redbud tree. It's one of my favorites, because the dark brown limbs explode with tiny pinkish-purple flowers in the spring. The flowers appear before the leaves do, so it's very striking. These trees grow wild in the woods, but a lot of people plant a few in their yards. About 3 years ago, we planted a couple out back, close to the deck, and their growth is amazing, which shows that native plants and trees really do better! It's probably my favorite tree to see in the spring, because the tiny flowers are so delicate against the dark branches. When the leaves finally come out, they are large and heart-shaped. I love redbuds!

Next is our Japanese Flowering Cherry.

I didn't know what this tree was until a few years ago, when a coworker asked a friend who worked at a nursery. Kim and Steve, this is the tree that got "nipped" when you visited last spring--it had just started to bloom when it snowed, so I didn't get to see it blooming last year. I was so happy to see it this year, and I wish I could give you an idea of just how pretty it is. When I took this, it was sunny, and I stood underneath and looked up into the blooms. It was like looking up into a pink cloud. The blooms are dense with many petals, and when I think about it, they remind of the carnations you put on floats!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Perhaps more later....

Tags: Redbud tree, Japanese Flowering Cherry