a beautiful spring already!

just in time for easter, we have a resurrection miracle right in our backyard! when my friend heather moved here in 2007, she dug up a BUNCH of amaryllis bulbs and shared them with me and kristie. i love those flowers, but i was hesitant to plant them because i do not do flowers. i love receiving them, i love admiring them, but i cannot keep them alive in the ground. i did not inherit my granddaddy's green thumb, that is for sure. i have been known to say, "i am growing children, not flowers!" well, my two gardening friends assured me that amaryllis were tough and that i could not kill them. well, bring them on! kristie helped me plant them along my (ugly) fence, and i actually had a little hope! until kristie and heather both mentioned in passing some time later that their amaryllis were blooming... both of theirs bloomed, and i had some green leaves. that was it. and for the next two years, that was it. just green leaves. they looked mighty healthy last year, and i was sure they'd produce some buds then.... but no. my sweet neighbor bonnie and i have had many a conversation across the fence about those poor flowers and whether they'd ever bloom. i'd pretty much given up on the poor dears this year... they were covered in weeds and the leaves were looking quite pathetic. just two weeks ago, i shook my head at them and said, "i told them i'd kill 'em!"

WELL! last week, the kids and i went outside to breathe in some beautiful spring air, and wouldn't you know!? those weed-infested leaves held stems! and those stems held BUDS! red BUDS! i could not believe it! you'd have thought i'd found a box full of gold, i was so excited! i put amelia in her swing, and i started weeding. there is probably a right way and a wrong way to weed, but i just started cleaning out around the flowers. caroline had a ball finding all the "pretty flowers" (aka weeds) for me, and ethan carefully watched me. then i fertilized them and watered them really well. i was tickled. and it was just a day or two later that these beautiful blooms appeared... in my yard! i still can't believe it. something grew despite being in my yard. everytime i'm in amelia's room, i peek out her window to take a look.



now, never mind the dry grass and dollar weeds in the background of the pictures. :) baby steps, people. baby steps. there are several plants that have yet to bloom, so i'll probably get some more pictures soon. i must admit that this has given me a small, small taste of the joy of gardening. just don't tell anybody i said that...