Walking Through Springtime

 Let's follow the example of these waterfowl and take a walk through the late April- early May springtime. For Easter we went to visit family in PA and had a lovely walk around the St Vincent Lake and Ponds in Latrobe. What do you think of that black duck? Any idea of it's breed?

 In the ponds we found many nesting pairs of geese. While one sat on the nest the mate was always very close by keeping an eye out for intruders.

 Back home in VA the beautiful native dogwood in our backyard were at their finest on Easter Day when we arrived home.

 The bleeding heart was pretty wonderful this year also. I don't always remember to check this area of the garden but when a friend put up a photo on instagram of  her similar plant it reminded me to check mine.

 This was a surprise as we drove down the hill heading home on our return from PA. The lilac in the front garden was out in full bloom. This particular shrub had been somewhat of a dud for many springs now with only one or two blossoms right on top where they could not be seen. In 2017 we gave it a severe pruning and last year there were few blooms but this year, oh my, lots of bloom and fragrance.

 Where shall we look next? East or west?

 Staying back in the east I made a quick visit to Meadowlark Gardens again yesterday right after a 10 minute heavy rainfall around 4.30pm. But the sun came out again and I thought crowds would be light so I braved the rush-hour traffic and headed out. When I first arrived I thought there must be a wedding party there...until I noticed that all the "bridesmaids" were dressed differently. That's when the penny dropped and I thought "prom time". Fortunately for me they all stayed at the top of the hill to take their photos while I went down to the lake, the peony gardens and more. If you look back to my blog post of April 7 you'll see this lake looking quite different as it was then in prime cherry blossom season. But for now the only splash of color aside from all that green, is in those big orange fish in the foreground

 Strolling on there were pockets of beauty to be found around every corner. In addition to the flowers the variety of foliage colors adds to the spectacular spring display.

 I must remember to return when the water lilies bloom. For now though the occasional flag iris provide a spot of color.

 Just settle in and enjoy the view. No need to say anything.

 Unless you want to sigh over the great color combinations here in the planter bowl

 or outside the front entrance. That downpour had washed everything clean and made the colors light up.

Let's end this springtime walk with the clematis outside the dining room window. I was not the only one enjoying it a few days ago as you can see.

What's next in the garden you might wonder? Gee, the weeds are back bigtime again after some rain but I'm not going to show you those. But maybe some peonies...come back soon to find out.