Nature Notes: My clump of Earth

Thursday is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. I thought I would write some kind of post about Earth Day for my nature notes this week but most of what I would say is depressing.

Frankly, I don't want to depress myself so I'm not going to try and articulate the thoughts I have leading up to this earth day. On a cheerier note, my city (Raleigh, NC) is suspending bus fare for earth day.

Anyone who wants to ride on any of the city buses on Earth Day in Raleigh, NC can do so for free.

I think that's a great idea to encourage people to try out using the buses for transportation on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

There are also a lot of programs in my area for Earth Day including a an all day event at the Museum of Natural Sciences.

All of the photographs in this post were taken over the past seven days. The shot above was taken today and the shot below was taken about 5 days ago of the same bush.

I thought this week it would be fun to do some comparison shots which show just how much change occurs in such a brief span.

The shot below shows the current status of one of my big rose areas. All the green on the right hand side of the shot are rose branches that have tiny buds. I'll be curious how soon they will start blooming.

The roses below (also shown in third shot) are the first ones to bloom this year which is unusual, particularly this early. Ordinarily the roses above bloom first but even they rarely bloom before late May. They are on schedule with their tiny buds.

The azaleas shown below were photographed today and they are almost in full bloom.

For a comparison, below is the same bush facing the same direction six days ago.

That azalea hedge on one side bloomed bottom up. For almost a week the bottom blooms where far ahead of the buds on top when facing the hedge from the driveway looking towards my secret garden..

The shot above and below are of the same hedge with the same amount of days apart but were taken from the other side of the hedge. From that side which was inside the garden facing towards the driveway, they seemed to bloom faster on the top.

It is amazing to me how much change can occur within the space of a few days.

I'm enjoying the flowers on deck wall which started blooming recently.

I could watch the birds from my deck door all day. They are so many different ones that take advantage of my bird baths.

I have a fancier bird bath in my front yard but on the deck I use what used to be large planter dishes.

When they start wearing out or getting too hard to clean, I swap them out with other ones. After these need to be replaced, I'll have to get new ones as these are the last of the planter saucers I have on hand.

For other participants of nature notes and signs of the season, you can visit the host at Rambling Woods. The official Nature Notes day is Thursday but I tend to post early.