My Pretty Filler Post

I neglected to post photos of my little tree when it bloomed earlier this Spring!
This was my Mother's Day present from Hubs a few years ago.

Here are some pretty piccies from a couple of months ago.......

Being from the South, I have a deep affinity for the Southern Magnolia tree or Magnolia Grandiflora.  My oldest brother had a massive tree that engulfed his front yard.  It has scads of massive mature blooms and made the air around his house so fragrant.  I can close my eyes and smell it now....

 Of course the reason he loved that tree was because it was so huge that it had a large canopy of leaves.  You could sit out there even during a light rainstorm and not get wet since the water never got through the layers of those large shiny leaves.  It was like a living umbrella.

The greenery also shaded most of his front yard so no grass would grow.  He detested mowing grass and yard/lawn maintenance in general. lol

 My magnolia tree is not a Southern traditional variety since they are not hardy enough to withstand the winters up in these parts.  It is one of the hybrids that have been developed that will thrive in Yankeeland, called a Magnolia "Elizabeth".  It is also referred to as a "Tulip Tree" or a Lemon Magnolia, as the blossoms are cup-shaped, like a tulip blossom, before they open fully and the blooms smell like lemons....and they are yellow too.

The blooms also come BEFORE the tree leafs out.  So it's unusual looking when it's bloomed fully with very few green leaves on the bare branches.  The full greenery comes only after the blossoms die off.

It's grown about 4 feet taller since we planted it and it looks like it is thriving finally.
I am going to hate to leave it behind when we move.....

I'll be back later tonight or tomorrow to get my posting up to speed again.  We were away for a couple of days so I have some catching up to do on Real Life and Cyber stuff as well.

Sluggy

Oh, You Have GOT to be Kidding Me!

I drove #2 son to his Orthodontist appointment after school today.  I am pulling into the parking lot and the skies opened up.  It's.....It's.....SNOWING!!!
April 27th and I am being pelted by little tiny snowbally things as well as big chunky white flakes!
Oh.
My.
Word.

I thought the receptionist was going to crap her pants when I came in and told her it was snowing....seriously, she freaked out a little!

And it's suppose to hit 75 here this weekend......



Remember my lemon magnolia tree that bloomed a tad early?

Here's what happened to my little tree after 3 nights of frost last week.....

*sigh*  Why oh why didn't the leaves send a memo to the blooms that it was too too early to open?

I also have a mystery going on in my garden bed behind the deck.  I planted a mix of salad green seeds last spring.....arugula, rocket, leaf lettuces, etc.   This plant was among the things that sprouted up.  At first I thought it was curly leaf parsley or something.  It took awhile to get growing but the leaf thickness and texture made it look more like something that was not a salad green, but more like a root vegetable plant or the leaves on a fall veggie plant, like a winter squash or something in the cabbage family.  So I didn't pick it and let the plant grow but by winter we still didn't see any veggie....nothing was 'heading' in the center, etc. so I just left it to die over the winter.
But it didn't die....the plant survived the winter and is now growing like a son-of-a-gun!
Can anyone ID this plant for me?  It's got thick leathery leaves with curly edges and a purpley/pink spine. 2 of these plants took root in with the salad greens last spring.

If it's good eatin' I'll let it continue to grow....if it's just a weed that's not consumable it's getting plowed under this weekend....unless it snows again on Sunday after it hits 75 on Saturday. ack!

Sluggy