Good-Bye March

I think this month goes down as the nicest March we have ever had. I hope that doesn't mean we are going to have our normal March weather in April!!
 Flowers keep coming into bloom inspite of our cooler weather this week with temperatures dipping down into the mid 20s one night. Fortunately the blooming trees didn't seem to be affected by the frost we received.
I mainly covered my Peonies, Hostas and Japanese Maple and hoped for the best for everything else. I forgot to cover the Hydrangeas and they did get some frost damage but I think they will grow out okay.

I LOVE Virginia Bluebells!!!

I have tried to get these started for I don't know how many years. I'm finally getting a few blooms. They are so common yet I had such a hard time to get them going.

Grape Hyacinth

Pulmonaria isn't at all bothered by frost. It keeps on blooming profusely and it's also deer and rabbit resistant which makes it a keeper in my garden.

The last of the white and yellow daffodils.

 Trillium

I'm trying to cover this eyesore bank with Periwinkle and each year it's looking better. It's especially pretty in the spring when it's in bloom. I love this as a ground cover.

 Some of my favorite spring flowers are Bleeding Hearts.

I didn't realize Sand Cherry Trees got this big or I wouldn't have agreed to have it planted in front of the house. I prune this thing back every year and still it's huge! Unfortunately the Japanese Beetles are very fond of this tree:(

Hellebores are another great spring flower that are deer and rabbit resistant. I'm definitely going to plant more of these in my garden.

Silver Beacon Lamium must have liked the mild winter because I have never seen it with this many blooms in March. In fact I saw blooms on it most of the winter.

Variegated Solomon's Seal

And a few of my Hostas that are appearing are.....

Hosta Sagae

 Midwest Magic

 First Frost

 Lemon Lime

Frosted Dimples

Hosta Winsome

Where I'm from.....

You might just happen to see sights like this. In fact, I'm 100% sure you would see a few of them.
Excuse the quality of these photos. They were shot through the windshield (make that a dirty windshield) so they're not great but at the moment it's all I have.
My computer crashed this week and my photos should be backed up on the external hard drive, but I can't figure out how to get to them. These photos were still on my camera card so I'll do a post on what you might see if you were to visit my part of the country.

Horses on the loose. Move over, don't run over us please!!
Besides, I'm pretty sure you're not supposed to be going out the driveway.
Do these two little boys really think they can stop them?

Oh good....there comes Farmer Nisley to the rescue. He doesn't seem to be too overly concerned about his horses. It looks more like he's out on his evening stroll.

Windmills or "vind rawd" as the farmer referred to it, are very common on Amish farms.

This looked so peaceful. Wish this was on my property....Sigh.

 I tried to be as discreet as I possibly could, but I think the boy spotted me.

These last few photos are very typical of an Amish farm. The big main house and the smaller "Daudy Haus" grandparents house. Big barn and many smaller buildings of one sort or another. Everything is so green and lush.

Again the two houses. This one is obviously not a farmer because it's lacking the big barn. The small shed like barn is for the horse and buggy and perhaps hosting church. Amish don't have church houses but instead take turns hosting church.

Here the "daudy haus" is attached to the main house at the far right. Most places are extremely well groomed and manicured.
I have lived here all my life and I'm so used to seeing Amish farms etc. but if you would like to see more, let me know and maybe I'll do more posts like this.
Well that's all I have until I find my photos.

Spring Begins

Spring is officially here although it felt more like summer this week. We had several days in the 80s this week! Crazy, but I sure could get used to mild winters and early springs!! The warm weather has brought buds and blooms much earlier than what we are used to.
I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and got all of my flower beds cleaned out. It's hard to resist the temptation to start digging and dividing but I'm trying to hold off on that for another week or two.
Flowers in bloom this week are....

Pulmonaria Majeste

Brunnera

Star Magnolia

Rue Anemone

Primroses

Rue Anemone

I dug these little beauties out of my woods, and they do quite well in my woodland garden. I think they are so dainty and pretty. I love the foliage just as much as the flower.

Daffodils

Hosta Winsome

Even the hostas are starting to unfurl which has me worried. There's colder weather forecasted for the beginning of next week so I'll have to keep an eye on them.

And the Peonies.... Do you realize it's only March? Slow down PLEASE!! These were just poking through the ground last week.

Happy Gardening

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Enchiladas 8 8 inch soft taco shells 3 cups cooked shredded chicken 1/4 cup diced green pepper sauteed 1/4 cup diced onion sauteed 1 Tbsp taco seasoning 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese divided Sauce: 3 Tbsp butter 3 Tbsp flour 2 cups chicken broth 3/4 cup sour cream 1 4oz can green chilies 1 Tbsp taco seasoning 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan 2. Saute onion and green pepper in a little butter. 3. Mix chicken and 1 cup of the shredded cheese. Add sauteed onion and pepper and the taco seasoning. Divide mixture onto taco shells and roll up and place in pan seam side down. 4. In a saucepan melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat. 5. Stir in the taco seasoning,chilies and sour cream. Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese. 6. Bake 25-30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with sour cream and salsa if desired. I also like to make a rice dish to go with this.

printablerecipe

What's Bloomin'

Spring has arrived very early here in Ohio. I can't remember ever having so many warm sunny days in March and I love it but I'm fearful. It's just too early for things to be budding and blooming the way they are.  Forecast for the next ten days is pretty much 60s+70s which means trees will start blooming.
I'm praying we don't get a hard freeze!!

It hasn't been cold enough to kill the weeds this winter and my flower beds are just being overtaken by them. I have been working on them the last week, spending hours trying to eradicate them. I have never seen anything like it. This is what I'm dealing with. My flower beds are just covered with it.

If you try to pull it out it breaks off at the root. You have to dig it out. It's extremely time-consuming.

Here's a few photo's of what's blooming at Serenity Cove.

Hellebores

Hellebores are the first flowers to bloom, usually late February or early March. It's not unusual to see these blooming when we still have snow.

I wish I knew the names to these but when I first started gardening it wasn't that important. I am hoping to add some more species to my garden this year. Hellebores do great in shade.

Crocuses are the next to bloom.

Followed by Grecian Windflowers.

Primroses

I just found these little beauties blooming this morning. Pulmonaria Raspberry Splash.

Happy Spring!!