Mystery Solved

Well, the identity of the "Mystery Bush" has been solved.

Let me tell you, the flowers took their own sweet time in blooming!

Meanwhile, I was doing my best sleuthing work...

I asked anyone who came to the house if they knew what the bush was.

Best/Most Popular guess was lilac...but no one was sure.

I tried finding info online....Nothing was a good match...I was seriously beginning to doubt my ability to "find stuff out".

Until one night, I did a search for "late blooming lilacs" and BINGO, I had a match!!!

 They are lilac bushes, but they are not the standard, "Old Fashioned" lilac, also known as French Lilac, or Common Lilac (Syringa Vulgaris) but rather they are a hybrid, James MacFarlane/ Preston Lilac (Prestonia Vulgaris). I actually have 3 of them, 1 pink & 2 purple. They bloom about 2 weeks later than Old Fashioned lilacs.

Now we can all sleep at night~

A few other plants that have been showing off the last couple of weeks:

 (Red Twigged Dogwood)

 (Iris)

 (Snowball Bush)

 (Red Valerian/"Jupiter's Beard")

I have a lot of these reddish/pink flowers.

 (Chives in the front garden)

(Wisteria off the back deck~ almost ready to bloom)

Almost Summer?

This is what our weekend looked like:



Hoping your Holiday Weekend was a little sunnier and warmer than ours was!



What's Growing in the Yard This Week?

"A few" more yard finds~

We have a lot of stuff on our yard.

It is getting a bit overwhelming.

We are just slowly working at getting everything back in tip-top condition.

 Chokecherry

There are 3 large trees in the NW corner of the back yard & a couple more that have come up on their own~ I think.

Barberry

 I have a couple of these. A very pretty bush with tiny yellow blossoms.

This bush was covered with blossoms, but the wind got to them before I got a good picture.

 Oregon Grape & Iris

 Ground Cover & Weeds :)

I don't know the name of the ground cover. For all I know, it could be a weed!

 Ground Cover w/ Purple Flowers

 Grape Hyacinth

Not sure what is nibbling on the leaves. Possibly deer.

We also have a snail infestation. Bleh! Little buggers!!!

Mushrooms

 There are a couple of different varieties of mushrooms.

They are coming up everywhere! Interesting at first, now they are getting a bit annoying.

Kids know not to touch them.

 Another purple ground cover. Don't know the name of this one either.

Lots of dead leaves, twigs etc. that we are working on cleaning out.

I just ordered some seed/bulb/flower catalogs so maybe I can figure out what some of this stuff is.

 Iris

A few buds are starting to appear.

 Another mystery bush.

I have several bushes that are close to blooming.

Hopefully that will help me figure out what they are.

Don't worry...I'll post pictures.

I'm kind of obsessed with the yard right now.

(Mostly just wandering around and "oohing & ahhing")

 Lamb's Ear

 Stag Horn Sumac Tree

Very funky looking tree, with these huge blossomy thingies:

 This is in the backyard. I think it was a sandbox/play area.

We prefer to call it the "Indian Burial Ground"

(I mean no disrespect to actual Native Americans or their Burial Grounds, just so ya know)

It is currently growing some nice weeds.

Behind that is a fence & the "natural landscaping" area~ where the deer tend to roam

and try and get through the fence.

I've never really explored this little area too much. But on the right side of the picture, you can see the big rocks~ There is a rock wall opposite the wood posts.

And in that rock wall, I found these:

 (Yeah, yeah...another ground cover that I do not know the name of)

They look so pretty spilling over the rocks.

I also found these growing among the rocks:

Hens & Chicks

And...I have 1 strawberry growing. An actual, tiny green strawberry.

Peach, Apricot & Cherry trees have all set fruit.

Stay tuned for more pictures of random flowers, bushes and plants that I don't know the names of .



A Boy and a Camera

What 11 year old boys like to take pictures of:

Shoes

Muscles

Cars

Cars & Shoes

Self Portrait