Cloudy days

a cloudy day on the coast...make that  "a cloudy, showery week on the coast".  More showers yesterday helped lessen our rain deficit but I could really use a few days of sunshine.  hopefully tomorrow.

out on the front porch the rain chain has been doing its thing

(all garden, flower photos by Trish) 

here is the same scene this past January

a walk around the yard showed the rain kissed leaves of spreading hostas

I love them for the brightness they bring to shaded areas and their great variety of form and texture.
  always reliable, mine have been divided many times over the years and can add a tropical look with their expansive leaves

my many various day lily plants always add color throughout the summer

  today, pre-bloom, raindrops sit happily on their leaves

the siberian iris are open, making an early entrance this year as i don't usually see them until mid June
 ~there's plenty to pick for a springtime bouquet~ which is exactly what I did for my sister-in-law Karen on her birthday.

the arbor's clematis added needed color as the sky stayed gray this week

crystal fountain clematis

 the roses unfurled their buds and soon (seemingly just hours) a burst of color greeted all visitors to my front door

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The thorn less Zephirine Drouhin offers a heady rose fragrance to anyone near the arbor

this allium bulgaricum has reappeared each spring since planted about 10 years ago

the bud is the size of a baseball before it bursts into beautiful individual green and pink bells atop its 4 foot stem

 

"Spring makes its own statement, so loud and clear that the gardener seems to be only one of the instruments, not the composer"

  ~Geoffrey B. Charlesworth~

amazing what nature can do in just a couple of weeks.

the birdbath (the robins favorite early morning place for a vigorous bath) is now practically hidden by the late spring growth in my new england side yard. 

currently there's a predominance of green, lush and rich due to the recent rain

 the scattered spring flowering bushes will soon lose their sizzling blooms

and the many hued mixed perennials will in their own turn produce the sweeping colorful landscape of summer

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"  ~Robin Williams

 

tomorrow makes a promise of some sunshine...

a tiara in the form of raindrops,

 it was worn by Anne Hathaway in the Princess Diaries

for fun here's an oldie

  the very sappy CLOUDY by Simon and Garfunkel