Hopefully the sun will peek out and shine today, otherwise the Black-eyed Susans will have to provide the sunshine. There are different hybrids from the native plant which are used in gardens and mine have multiplied quite well from the couple of plants I started with. Even giving a truckload away to a friend didn’t slow them down long but they sure add some bright color when most of the other flowers are done blooming.
Sea of Yellow Faces
The cargo is pretty and colorful but the driver and extra passengers don’t look too friendly in (and on) this old Studebaker truck. The truck definitely has seen more years than I have as it might be a 1949 model.
The Studebaker’s Cargo
The proverb “March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers”, first recorded in 1886, or the shorter version “April showers bring May flowers” (originally “Sweet April showers/Do spring May flowers”, part of a poem recorded in 1610) are common expressions in English speaking countries. But it doesn’t say whether it is rain or snow showers which bring the flowers although at least it has just been rain showers here this morning and not snow like further north. The colder temperatures still have kept the flowers from sprouting up this spring yet and if they had, flowers like the snow glories could be covered with snow.
Snow Glories Could be Covered by Snow
The morning was a crisp 17 degrees so if there had been flowers poking up in between the snow showers, they would be rather stiff. The sun is shining this morning but no colorful flowers to brighten the landscape as in prior years, so I will have to wait a few more weeks for the daffodils and other spring flowers.
Daffodils Dancing
Even if a flower managed to jump up through the frozen ground and snow, it would freeze rather stiff this sunny morning since it was -18ºF so no pretty flowers to look at for a while yet like these Viola tricolors, also called Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me or Johnny jump ups.
Johnny Hasn’t Jump Up Yet
This rake might have to come out of retirement since there is a lot of leaves on the ground to clean up after a windy week. The rake will be ‘re-tired’, as well as person using it, after this fall’s leaf cleanup.
Re-tired Rake
This porch looks inviting to pull up a chair and sit a while, but this chair seems to be occupied already.
Have a Seat
Apparently when I mention I was taking flower pictures, the watchful cat thought I was taking the flowers and not just photographing them as I had another escort when photographing in a neighbor’s yard.
Flower Guard
People, critters, birds and flowers are enjoying this nice sunny summer day.
Fence of Color
For this Mother’s Day, I won’t be able to give my mom the usual flowers I give her, one of the early flowers which bloom in the area, the pretty dandelions. Due to the lack of many flowers blooming yet, the honey bees in my yard need the flowers more than my mom does this year.
When honeybees first emerge from their hives in the spring they have typically depleted their winter stores of honey and pollen needed for daily nutrition to sustain their life and “mom’s flowers”, the dandelions provides one of the first important sources of pollen and nectar, prior to when the other spring nectar sources become available.
So mom will have to look at her Mother’s Day flowers as a picture only this year since the honey bees were on the dandelions yesterday.
Mother’s Day Flowers
