Need help with plant & tree identification!

Spring has sprung and we have inherited some landscaping from the previous owners. I know almost nothing about plants or trees and their care. I would like to change that and keep our yard nicely landscaped with trees and plants. I am asking YOUR help in identifying what is already in the yard and its care. I assume things blooming now are perennials instead of annuals (in my mind, the terms should be switched as annual means yearly or once a year....they bloom once a year...instead of ONCE).

Below are 20 photos I took of the yard this week. I believe you can click on the photo to get a larger image. If you know what the plants are and how to care for them, please leave a comment on my blog with the information!!

Also, I discovered planters of rosemary and Greek oregano outside - any chances they will be okay and still be alive/grow after being outside all winter?

I appreciate any help or information you can give me!

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Photo 3 (the tree in front with pinkish blossoms):

Photo 4 (I know it may be hard to identify without leaves):

Photo 5 (are most of these "weeds" growing under the tree?):

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Photo 10 (some sort of natural grass? does it need to be cut back/trimmed?):

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Photo 18 (2 plants - the upper left looks like lamb's ear with fuzzy leaves):

Photo 19:

Photo 20 (these are all over in the front and back yards):

More Egg Decorating

Earlier this month, I shared the Ukrainian decorated egg I did in class. I enjoyed it so much that I bought some supplies online to do more at home. Yep, I got all 17 colors of dye. And I am so visual oriented and organized (some call it something else), that I made labels for my dye jars. That way I can tell how the colors actually appear. I also got the traditional fine and extra fine wax writing instruments called kistka (seen on the plate in the photo below). I took pictures through the process of one of the eggs. I used yellow, red, and black.





Once the egg design and colors are done, the wax is melted to reveal the completed egg. I did 4 designs with the wax resist (Ukrainian) method. It takes a LONG time and I wanted more colored eggs so I used alcohol ink on two of them. My basket of eggs.....

NCAA Basketball

My husband has coordinated an NCAA men's basketball pool every year for who knows how long (way before I ever met him). I do not follow college basketball. Regardless, he tries to get me to fill out a bracket. I don't like making uninformed choices...but this year I decided to submit an entry. I placed the entry under our youngest cat's name and picked teams according to mascots that were "kitty-related". I was surprised to see there are 3 teams that are Wildcats. Anyway, I had no expectations of doing well since many of the cat/animal mascots are lower seed teams. So I am having a good laugh and am quite amused at my lead in the pool currently!! I know it's temporary but it's nice to be first even for a short time. I did pick Villanova to win it all. Go Wildcats!!

Egg Decorating

It has been years and years since I have colored eggs for Easter. You know, the basic dunk and dye with perhaps some crayon resist techniques. This year I saw a class offered on Ukrainian Egg Decorating and decided to register. The pysanky (Ukrainian Easter eggs) I have seen were beautiful, colorful, and detailed. It looked like a challenging skill to acquire.

Luckily, the process itself is not hard per se - just time consuming and a bit messy. It also helps to have a steady hand, which I do not. The process is a wax-resist so hot wax and fire (candle) are involved. I found it interesting that pysanka (singular of pysanky) is from the verb pysaty which is "to write". The decorating method is considered writing with beeswax on the egg.

Although my first attempt took me a couple hours, I can see myself getting hooked on it [as if I need another hobby]. I have ordered some supplies to make more on my own. It may become my annual Easter tradition to break out the supplies and make one (or more, if time permits).

We were told in class that in the old days only the women decorated the eggs (and no one else was allowed to peek) and did it together in groups, usually at night after the children went to bed. Decorated eggs were given to women who wanted children, put in water troughs to ensure the animals reproduced, given to protect a house from fire or carried around a house after a blaze was started to help stop the spread of flames or egg shells were thrown into a fire to help extinguish it, and hung from fruit tree branches in the spring to bring a good harvest...and many other uses in traditional rites. There is much symbolism in the designs and colors used. Obviously, pysanky were very important and so when Christianity was spreading, the missionaries incorporated them into Christian beliefs.

It is all quite fascinating to me.

Anyway, below are photos of my first pysanka. It's my own free hand design and I went with the earth tone colors.

Book & Paper Arts Class Projects

French link stitch. It's hard to see the stitching because of the design on the ribbon I used. You can click on the photo for a much larger image with a better view of the stitch.

Abecedarium (ABC...Z book) - collaborative accordian pocket book by whole class. We each did 2 or 3 letters of the alphabet and made pages that fit into the pockets. I haven't made the book covers yet...still deciding on design.

I did 3 pages: K, R

and T (two-sided page with removable ticket). Rather fun to make since the pages are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" - the same as ATCs (artist trading cards).

Long stitch box book (use any box: cake, mac & cheese, playing cards, etc). I used an old Swedish playing cards box. I also did some over-stitching to make it look fancy.

The last group of photos are marbleized paper. I tried various colors and design styles. Unfortunately, I didn't put enough alum on my paper so some of the colors washed off and aren't as vibrant as the paints were. As example, the 2nd photo has some pink color - that was bright red before the rinse stage. Oh well.

A Snow-filled February

We have received some major snow storms with record snowfalls - may break the record for the amount of snowfall in February. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the month with a big storm coming the exhaust blower on our furnace seized up and the part had to be ordered. We were without a furnace for 3 1/2 days. Luckily, we have space heaters and a gas fireplace (more decorative than for heat). Lia was not shy about being where the warmth was...in front of the fireplace or in front of the space heater.

We survived the furnace-less snowy weekend and still had our Super Bowl party. Our basement is finished and has an electric baseboard heater that kept our guests warm.
The above photo is our deck earlier in the month. We got another couple of inches after this was taken. The weather did warm up for a couple of days and a lot of the snow melted. I didn't get a photo of the snow at its maximum accumulation.

House and Cats

This is our family room with a fireplace and built in bookcases on both sides of the fireplace. We purchased matching recliner chairs for this room ("his" and "hers").


Surprisingly, the cats will sleep together on this chair...my chair. Until now, they did not sleep next to each other. I think the stress of the move, the cooler house temperature, and no couch makes them more willing to share space and warmth.


The family room windows have some strange blinds. Since the left half is a door that opens onto the deck, the shade on the right is not centered plus they do not cover the whole window. Which allows the cats to keep an eye on the backyard while the blind is "down". Each blind has 4 strings to open them....

because they are "decorative" when up. We inherited them from the previous owners. I hated them at first but I am adapting and they are growing on me. It's not in the budget to replace them any time soon so that is part of their "charm". :)

Grady absolutely loves the bay window and has claimed it as his. Lia will get up there once in a while but won't stay if Grady is there. I moved a kitty bed there and the first couple nights...and days...Grady was ALWAYS in the window. It is a bit drafty and colder now so he has opted for other places.

In front of the fireplace is a very warm alternative location.