Discoveries

Look what I found growing under the huge lilac bushes.

Both colors of trilliums growing side by side.

And under another massive lilac: some dog toothed violets. 

And I realized today that Deborah from Kilbourne Grove was right about my mystery buds. I should have known. I think they are the type of elderberry I had when we lived in Bognor.  It's growing around the lilacs too.

I am so blessed with each new discovery and I am still in awe.

My garden is getting along just fine without me these days.  The spring showing is gorgeous, but I hardly have time to notice.

I take the occasional walk through and pull a few tree seedlings before heading out to the land in the mornings.

My focus is on figuring out what I can divide and take with me.  I don't want to deplete the garden, or make any portion of it look sparse, but there are some plants that need dividing anyway,

and there are some that were gifts and it would be wrong to let them go.

But even if I don't take a whole lot with me, I have enough new plants to discover on our land.  I still haven't solved my plant mystery, so if you recognize this please let me know.

Checking the new life

It's getting exciting!  I still don't know what a lot of the trees are, but I know that most of them are fruit trees.

 I know I have apple, plum, cherry, and probably pear.

I also have viburnum and high bush cranberry.

 As you can see, I am still in awe over the land the Lord chose for us.  We had no idea what we were getting.  We just knew that it was the place for us.

I need some help.  Can someone please help me identify this.  I am not familiar with it but it sure looks interesting.

It is growing up through one of the ancient lilac trees.

The lilac trees are gorgeous in spite of all the dead stuff and they will have flowers soon too.

 
I can't wait to see them in bloom after they have been cleaned up a bit.

Does all this remind you of the secret garden?  I loved that book when I was a kid, and daydreamed of finding my own secret garden and transforming it.  The challenge has never lost its appeal for me.  Isn't it neat how God grants our hidden desires!

 It's going to take a lot of work, but I can't wait to see what this spot will look like when it's cleaned up.

The more I walk the land the more I enjoy it, even though the work I see ahead is overwhelming at times.

The forsythia is blooming now, but it's painfully obvious that it needs to be cut back and given a fresh start.

It's exiting to see how many fruit trees are on the land but sad to know that it's too late now to prune them all.

I am delighted to see that there is a good stand of elderberries on the property. (I later discovered that this was not elderberry but viburnum; the berries left on the plant had me fooled)

I wonder, will I make pies with them or sell them at the market?

 

When I first saw this huge tree I thought it was a dead evergreen but then I noticed some new life and realized that it was the tamarack.

 I think I will harvest some of these tiny cones to sell at Christmas time.

These sweet violets were the first wild flowers I spotted.  I know there will be more and I look forward to a great garden season on our new land.