Oh How I LOVE Spring!!!

I mentioned before that George and I walk the yard most every morning --checking out any new flowers and of course,  taking more pictures... Today,  I'll share with you another set.... Most of our Daffodils are gone (or almost gone now) --and some of the Tulips are gone... BUT--there's always new spring growth to enjoy!!!  I love seeing the leaves come out on the big shade trees in and around our yard...   Everything just keeps getting greener and greener. SO--today,  I'll share more Spring pictures for you.

Above is a picture of some of our CANDY TUFT.   Be sure to click on the pictures to enjoy them larger. 

Right beside the Candy Tuft,  we have PHLOX.   You can even see a tiny bit of it in the top picture.  I love this color  --but have never been too happy with our Phlox.  This particular bed is our 'rock bed' next to the downhill side of the driveway.  We have tried to get LOTS of things to grow here ---and it's quite a struggle.  We have semps (which do fine),  Periwinkle,  English Ivy,  Dianthus,  Candy Tuft and Phlox in this bed....  Maybe one of these years,  they will all do better.

You may not believe that this is a TULIP... It is ---a fairly tiny one which has the name of PEPPERMINT.... When the petals are closed,  the outside of them are a hot pink color.  They do look like a piece of Peppermint candy!!!!!   The picture here shows the tulips opened  when the sun hits them... As you can see,  the inside is white --with a pink center.  Isn't this a neat little Tulip????

I have quite a bit of HOSTA in the yard---and so far this spring,  it is all doing GREAT... Last year,  the deer got to several of them and ate them... Hopefully,  they won't get to them this year...... Grrrrrrr!  Above is a picture of three of our Hostas ---sharing the area around the trees with our Periwinkle ground cover.

This little patch of flowers (they are very tiny and close to the ground) are in the back of our home (on golf course property)...  From our deck,  that area looks like there is snow back there!!!!  These little WILDFLOWERS  (not sure what they are called) are just so pretty out there... They are white --from a distance,  but have a lavender look up close.  Once the golf course people come and clean up this 'rough' area,  they will mow the little wildflowers away.. BUT--we are enjoying them now...  Does anyone know what they are???  (UPDATE:  Thanks to TexWisGirl these little jewels are called SMALL BLUET. )

You saw our beautiful Red Buds in bloom in the last yard post I did...   Now---guess what else is blooming in our yard????  It's our gorgeous PINK DOGWOOD....    Oh WOW!!!!

George is the one who takes such great macro pictures of our flowers... I usually leave that job to him..  BUT---I took this picture of one of my favorite TULIPS named MARDI GRAS which I really like.  Hope you like it also.

Finally,  here's another picture of our yard --taken from the street.  This one is different from last week's photo from this angle.  You can see that the big trees are 'leafing'...  AND--you can see our pink Dogwood.  You can even see George taking a macro of one of the dogwood blooms.    All of the pictures in today's post were taken on 3/26/12, except for the Phlox--which was taken on 3/30/12.

Next--we'll have some Irises in bloom....  Then we'll have  some ROSES (yeah),  our Daylilies and Lilies....   Oh --how I love Spring.

Hugs,
Betsy

Rockhouse Hike at Mt. Magazine, Arkansas

Everytime we go to Mt. Nebo in Arkansas,  we take a trip a little farther west of there to visit another favorite mountain of ours,  Mt. Magazine.  This year was no exception.   The area which we love in Arkansas consists of a series of mountains (Mt. Nebo, Petit Jean, Mt. Magazine) which lie between the Ouachita Mountains to the south and the Ozarks to the north.  Mt. Magazine is the largest of these mountains,  and there is a hike one can take to the top point of Mt. Magazine which says that it is the highest point in the state of Arkansas.

We love Mt. Magazine for its views of the  Petit Jean Valley below;   for its waterfalls;  for the good food at the lodge restaurant;  and for its hikes.  This time (Feb. 28, 2012),  since it was rainy and foggy,  we took a hike down the mountain to visit a rockhouse and a small creek.  Here are our pictures of that steep hike.   Above is me standing in front of the rockhouse.  Be sure and enlarge all of the pictures to see them larger.

The rock formations around this area are just gorgeous..  Note the fog at the top of the picture... As I said,  it was very foggy and drizzly that day.. However,  this was our only 'rainy' day on that entire trip this year!!!

I stayed at the rockhouse and George bushwhacked down the hill (there was sort-of-a-trail) to check out the creek below. We had already hiked a long ways down the mountain to get to the rockhouse... SO---I just sat and enjoyed the beauty around me --while George went exploring some more.

Here is a picture of the creek--without much water this year.  Arkansas has not had the huge amounts of rain that Tennessee has had during this past winter... The waterfalls and cascades there were mostly 'waterless' this year.

George is making his way BACK up the steep hill --toward the rockhouse... The hiking sticks do help---but it's not easy especially when you are carrying a heavy camera backpack--including a tripod.  At least he is still SMILING!!!!

Here is another picture of the rocks around the Rockhouse!!!  I'll bet that the deer and other wildlife like this rockhouse area.  We scared three deer when we were hiking down there ---so they ran away from this area!  They probably were mad that we HUMANS were visiting 'their' area!!!!

Here's a picture George took of me and my hiking sticks... It's almost time to hike back up that steep mountain!!! Where's the elevator when I need it????? ha ha

BUT--we have to take time to take one more picture.... "George,  please set up the tripod."   "Okay-DEAR!!!!"   ha ha ....   Don't you like this picture though?  It may be my favorite picture of the two of us...  What do you think?

Have a wonderful weekend.  I'll see you on Monday.

Hugs,
Betsy