April Showers Bring May Flowers

Good morning!

My favorite newspaper cartoon, Mutts, has today as its theme a big black rainstorm, and the punchline, "It's April!"

And that reminded me of the childhood rhyme, "April showers bring May flowers," which I always loved because I loved both rain and flowers so much.  Here in Southern California, it's not the flowers so much as the rain.  I'd love it if it rained today and, say, every other day in April. Just a nice daytime gentle soaking shower.  How lovely it would be.

However, let me say that my flowers are doing well, thank you. The roses are blooming well; the  drugstore rosebushes that a renter planted for us are thriving and putting out giant crepe-paper blossoms of pink and white and yellow. My old rosebush that I brought over from next door is putting them out as usual, strange pink blooms tinged with darker pink--a pleasure to have in the yard.

Out in back, we have Gregory Neff making his annual riotous appearance in the form of the nasturtiums that were the last thing he planted in his active life.  We brought over some plants and seeds from next door, and they keep thriving.  Of late, they have proliferated and are growing huge, with giant water-lily leaves and gorgeous multi-orange and red and yellow and salmon flowers.

The front bed is gorgeous, the one in front of the garage.  There's rosemary,(that's for remembrance), with its beautiful blue flowers.  And Mexican sage with purple blooms.  And the Mexican marigold with an abundance (at last) of brilliant yellow flowers, and the dusty miller which is silver,with big yellow flower heads. Creeping along beneath these are a number of "ice plant" plants with blossoms ranging in color from pale yellow through orange to red-orange.  All so beautiful.

I was going to spend this posting talking about Easter, but I guess I did anyway. I have written about joy and thanking God for the blessing of flowers.  And showers.  And, yes, I want to wish a happy birthday to my childhood classmate. Happy birthday, Frank!
And many more!!  YAZZYBEL