Spring Flowers

In addition to spring bouquets (see my last post), I also took several photos recently of the flowers naturally growing in my yard. My tulips were back this year, as well as the bush and tree blossoms in my back yard. I also found some lovely wild violets growing in the grass, so I snapped some pics of those, too!

All of these photos were taken in May. I planted my tulip bulbs in fall 2017, so last year (spring 2018) was the first time I saw them. They were mostly striped hybrids last year, red and yellow both on the same flowers. This year when they regrew there were solid red and solid yellow tulips instead! So interesting! :)

Spring & Summer Landscape Photos

These photos were all taken in May-July in my front and side yards.

I planted a few dozen hybrid tulips in the fall, imagining our front yard bursting with color in the spring. They bloomed late and then didn't stick around long (I didn't spray enough deer repellent, and the deer that frequent our subdivision ate most of them), but I did manage to grab a couple great photos:

I also took pictures of the pretty blossoms on the crabapple tree in our front yard, as well as the red lilies and roses:

My hydrangea bushes (I have one very large one, and two small ones now) are also doing well (the large one especially):

The biggest front yard story of the spring/summer, however, was this little mama duck, who made a nest in our bushes, incubated 8 or 9 eggs, and then one day vanished - leaving one sad, unhatched egg behind.

Last fall, we also did a lot of work to our side yard landscaping, planting several hosta, ferns, and astilbe - all of which, I'm happy to say, came back and looked great this spring/summer, with little watering or attention given on our parts. I love the pop of color on the astilbe, especially:

NYC Photos - Botanical Gardens in Spring

When my husband and I took a vacation to New York City at the end of March/beginning of April, one of the highlights was visiting the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. My husband's cousin works there as a horticulturalist, and he gave us a VIP tour of the place (including a peak inside some of the staff-only greenhouses)! There was also an amazing orchid show in the conservatory greenhouse and some nice spring color starting to bloom in the Rock Garden.

Because the weather was colder-than-average for much of March and April, there wasn't a whole lot else to look at yet, flower-wise... but I did manage to take some nice pictures of flowers in the Botanical Gardens grounds! My favorites are below:

I have a lot more photos of the Botanical Gardens to share, including pictures of the aforementioned orchid show, the other plants in the conservatory greenhouse, spring flowers growing in the Rock Garden, and even some pictures from the staff-only greenhouses - so make sure to check back! I'll be making future posts with more pictures soon.

NYC Photos - Central Park Zoo

As I mentioned in my last post, my husband and I went to Central Park on two separate days of our vacation to New York City. On the last day - Friday, April 6 - we walked through part of the northern edge of Central Park and the rainy, not-yet-blooming Conservatory Gardens, before seeking shelter from the weather at a nearby Starbucks and the Jewish Museum. Then, after lunch (and once the sun started to peak out behind the clouds just a little), we ventured out to the Central Park Zoo to try to soak up just a little more Vitamin D.

Here are some of my favorite photos of the animals (and a few flowers/plants!) we saw at the Central Park Zoo: