Spring is here

 Spring has arrived in Louisiana.  In fact, a short stroll through my yard yielded several photos of blooms and a heady scent of nature's bounty.  The bridal wreath in the first two pictures are in the back of the house near Richard's shed.  We also have a line of plants along the front line.  These shrubs are one of my favorites because they remind me so much of my grandmother.  She had several shrubs in her front yard.  My sisters and I loved to play with them as children.  We'd break branches off the plants to make bouquets for a long game of "Bride."  Ma-ma's yard had a walkway or alley of plants from the porch to the road.  No one ever used the walkway, but we strolled up and down carrying bouquets of bridal wreath.  There was never a groom waiting on the other end since we had no brothers or boy neighbors for recruiting as grooms.  Ah, the memories of being a child bride with a long walk for pretending.


 These two photos of the wisteria on our back arbor just can't possibly do justice to the color explosion.  The arbor is 10 feet wide, long, and high, and is completely covered with wisteria blooms for about two weeks each spring.  They will be fully opened by this weekend but the bees will be so plentiful that I don't dare to get close enough for this shot.  


I love the scent of wisteria.  It's so sweet that it can be sickening, so the trick is to get a whiff from a distance when the vines are covered in blooms.  Although the arbor is pretty far from the back of the house, we can sit on the patio and still smell the wisteria.












The yellow vining flower on the left is Carolina Jasmine, and it's about finished.  This flower also has a wonderful smell.  I have it growing on a small arbor near the drive, so getting out of the car is a sweet experience because there's just enough scent to notice but it's neither as strong or as sweet as the wisteria.  It's one of the first plants to bloom in our area and not many people have them, so this one gets noticed by almost everyone who visits us.  


 What is spring without clover?  Here's a patch from the garden.  I tried to catch a honey bee taking care of business, but he was too fast.  I did catch part of an ugly mosquito, but I photo-shop'ed his lanky body out of my picture.  I'm already tired of the big slow-flying mosquitoes that come in the house and die on the furniture and floor.  They may not bite, but that's the only good thing I can say about them.

 

These last two pictures are here to serve one purpose: to show that in the spring we're so happy to see greenery that anything will do.  The first picture is of some sort of herb that I planted in my yellow bed years ago that's taken over.  I really liked the variegated leaves  and decided to use the plant as ground cover.  Well, it's covered the ground alright. Now it's a invasive pest and getting rid of it seems pretty impossible.  Of course, I could attack with Round-up but I won't take the chance of killing the plants I want to keep. 

This last photo is of something most people wouldn't bother to capture on film.  I really like it though.  It's proof that if you leave broccoli long enough, it will bloom and eventually seed.  The yellow flowers are tiny but with what must be hundreds on a stem, they make an impact.


Hope you enjoyed a stroll through my yard and that spring is finding it's way to your home (assuming you're in my hemisphere) so that Ole Man Winter will soon be leaving.  
If you're like me, you enjoy all of the seasons, but it's nice to change into different clothes and to get out for some fresh air.