Appreciating May!

Hi, everyone!

Grandma and I have been spending more time at Highland Park!  Every time we go, there are new trees and shrubs blooming! On the day before the Lilac Festival started, the redbuds had started to bloom and the flowering almond was pretty, too!  The last of the magnolia trees had started to bloom, but the early ones were still in bloom, too!

The buckeye leaves had opened but the flower buds hadn’t.  There were more tulips in bloom.  The cherry trees were dropping their petals like snowflakes!

The Lilac Festival runs for three weekends.  The vendors and concerts on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays attract lots of people and make nearby parking difficult.  That’s why Grandma and I go see my flower friends on weekdays, instead.  When we were there the day before the festival started, we could see all the food trucks setting up.  They are all across the street from the flowers, and the crosswalk gets painted purple for the festival!

Only the very earliest lilacs were in bloom for the start of the festival.  I missed seeing some of my favorite lilac friends in bloom!  Grandma said we could come back after the weekend to see them.

When I got up Friday morning, the robins’ nest had fallen down!  I don’t know what happened, but I was sad to see pieces of broken egg shell.  I was hoping to make friends with the baby birds when they hatched!

On Saturday, we had lots of plant changes!  The landscaper came to dig out the viburnums in the front yard and plant lilacs there instead!  Grandma wanted a Sensation lilac but couldn’t think of a sunny place to plant one.  The viburnums were getting scraggly, so Grandpa suggested pulling them out and putting  lilacs there.  We got two –  a dark purple and a Sensation.  Sensation lilacs are my favorites!

Grandma had a tree specialist come see the apple tree with the broken main branch.  Even though the branch leafed out, the specialist said we should cut if off.  That would give the new shoots a better chance to develop into strong new branches.   The landscaper cut off the branch, then Grandma and I trimmed all the pieces of that and the viburnums.  We filled three trash cans full!  The broken branch had flower buds on it, so we saved some twigs to blossom inside.

Sunday was Mothers Day!  After dinner with Uncle Steven’s family, Grandma and Grandpa took me to the bay.  On Monday, we did some spring chores.  First, we took down the deer fencing around my rhododendron friend.  I think all the branches were happy to be able to spread out again!  Then Grandpa mowed the lawn and Grandma and I fed all my azalea and rhododendron friends.  We started to clean up the herb garden, but it’s too early to plant basil!  My primrose friend was blooming.

Aunt Kara planted May apples at her house last year, and she told us she’d like a few more.  Grandma and I took a walk in the woods, looking for May apples that might want to move.  We found a big patch!  I helped Grandma dig a few up very carefully, so they will start to grow right away in their new home.  Then I made friends with some red trilliums and two Jack-in-the-pulpit plants that were just coming up!

Last Wednesday, Grandma took me back to Highland Park to look for more lilacs.  We parked at the northeast corner of the park, so we saw some early blooming azaleas, first!  Some of the rhododendron flower buds were beginning to show color and the redbud was even prettier than last week!  There were pretty colors of leaves on the trees.  A lot of the magnolia trees  were dropping their blossom petals, but the saucer magnolia was in full bloom.

More of the lilacs were open and they smelled very nice!  Grandma and I looked for our favorite Sensation lilacs, but we couldn’t find any in bloom yet.  Grandma said we’d have to come back again to see them!

Every time we’ve been at Highland Park, the grounds crew has been mowing the lawn.  Grandma thinks that’s why I haven’t seen any of my groundhog friends there this spring.  I do see my home groundhog friend, and now I have a rabbit friend that comes up on the deck, too!

Yesterday, Grandma and I made cupcakes for James’ birthday party!  I was happy to help Aunt Kara and Uncle Steven get ready!  While the cupcakes were cooling, Grandma took me around the yard, looking for new flower friends.  Almost all the daffodils blossoms are gone, but the apple trees are in full bloom.  There are some botanical tulips blooming and the yellow archangel ground cover in the back yard is in bloom, too!

After lunch, Grandma and Grandpa and I went to the bay.  We’ve had a whole week of warm, sunny weather, and the azaleas are just beginning to open their flower buds.

Grandpa has been working on raising the floor in the front of the boathouse.  He’s doing it one half at a time, so everything stored there gets moved from side to side as he works.  Grandma and I helped with that and also with taking down the tarp where the rolling door is going to go.

Guess what?  When I got up this morning at the bay, I saw something purple in the bushes.  It was a blooming lilac!  Grandma told me she never knew it was there, right in front of everything!

Love,

Lion-san