A spot of blue for Bloom Day

I popped out into my yard Tuesday morning for a much needed garden fix after Monday's dreary weather and a cranky baby kept me inside all day. I'd just started snapping pictures when I heard a mysterious squawking from above. Strange sounding crow, I thought, until the silhouette of telltale mohawk revealed itself.

It seems our Steller's Jay has returned for his annual visit _ just in time for my first Garden Blogger's Bloom Day put on by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. I haven't tracked when he usually shows up but I know he isn't here year round. Last year I thought I saw two, so perhaps he has a buddy. I'll have to keep watch.
After my momentary distraction, I managed to capture a few other spots of color in the yard, including the apple tree buds that are beginning to break. We just last month had this tree pruned and I'm happy to see it producing so many flowers. When we moved into the house in 2002 it had been allowed to run wild and had lost it's "traditional" fruit bearing shape. I don't necessarily desire apples from this tree but I would like it to remain healthy.




The Weeping Cherry is in full bloom, hovering over the lupine and poppies like a pink cloud. This was the first tree I planted and I'm pleased to see it doing well.

At lower elevations, buds have started appearing on the barberry. The golden barberry last year looked like it had lost its will to live but clearly it was just in a funk and now is putting on a bright face.



The honeysuckle vine is starting to send up shoots that will eventually reach about 15 feet. It really does need to either be moved or given a proper support for it to climb. Now it tends to reach toward the path, scenting the air as you head to the front door. Nice, but sometimes it's a little much to disentangle yourself from it as you walk by. I'm debating whether an arch of it over the walkway would be a bit much for our front yard.

Nearby, there's a nice blanket of candytuft that upon closer inspection is starting to climb up last year's growth of agastache. To cut or not to cut?