The Honeysuckle in Bud

Now it is the beginning of May and it is time to check in with the tree following at Lucy’s blog. The month of April brought a lot of changes to the honeysuckle shrub that I am following. Finally all the snow had vanished, some garden decorating was starting and buds were appearing.

April wasn’t a particularly warm month, probably the temperatures were below normal. There was also a lot of rain which has encouraged the grass to start greening up, the buds to start appearing on trees and shrubs and the plants to start poking through the ground.

The is the honeysuckle garden area on April 22, 2014. Nothing is actually in its right spot but it is always exciting to start adding some garden whimsy to the area.

By April 9th the first buds were appearing.

At the end of April the rain was relentless and it poured for a few days. I love this photo of one of the buds with a rain droplet just hanging there and in the rain droplet you can see the reflection of the spruce tree just behind the honeysuckle garden (taken April 30). We do tend to complain when it rains but the gardens need this water to encourage growth. The rain has continued into May and I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever ease up.

After a brief rain shower on May 4 I captured a brief rainbow over the honeysuckle shrub. The tree behind the honeysuckle doesn’t look like it survived the winter … wonder what I can use that trunk for?

During May the buds will open out to show the leaves and some blossom buds should be appearing.

It was a year ago in May that we gave this shrub its first big major trim after some wind damage. This photo (below) was taken on May 19, 2013. I don’t think the shrub will look like this at the same time this year but you never know. Nature never fails to amaze me.

Here is the garden on May 5, 2014 … still a long way to go to look like the above photos but it has been a very slow, slow start to the growing season this year.