Happy Easter Day!

It is a lovely Sunday morning in Central Virginia, full of peace and warm light! The perfect opportunity to snip a bloom here, tuck a blossom there and just enjoy the day - or eat breakfast on the deck. So I did all of that.
The very first - but definitely not the last clematis opened this morning. If I had to pay tax to the county based on clematis buds, I would be poor indeed this year. This one is Clematis hybrid 'H.F. Young', and loves life twined around the mailbox post.

I have been meaning to share the native honey suckle with you. This is Trumpet Honeysuckle [Lonicera sempervirens] and seems to love its spot because it gets larger every year. It vines some, but is easily controlled and provides not only lovely color, but green nesting places for various birds. Have not seen any particular activity around it this year, so we probably don't have any baby birds.













And, finally our newest azaleas that we just planted last month. After a hard winter and a hot dry summer I lost a large barberry in this corner, so we decided to bring some light under this tree with white azaleas. I think they will be lovely in a few years, when they are less ball-like

Trevor likes them!