Mom asked if I wanted to do today’s post and I agreed. Well sort of. Elsa here. It’s been raining the past couple of days and the temps have been slightly more than crisp but I’ve been super bored since my pansy brother, Sam doesn’t like walking in the rain much. I, on the other hand, live to go on walks. I tried to remind him that squirrels don’t take time off just because of a little rain but he didn’t care. Can you believe it? Not care about squirrels??? They are in full force 24/7/365 so I must patrol the ‘hood for safety reasons. The beginning of the week heralded such lovely spring weather and mom made me sit-stay walked around our garden taking photos of various plants that were in bloom. I said, sure I’ll do this post…just as soon as I catch 40 winks…okay?
Here’s what’s shakin’ around the Ranch. One of mom’s all-time favorite flowers are Bleeding Hearts. I had to sniff them to see why they swing in the breeze. I thought mom was gonna have a cow. Sheesh, mom, I just wanted to see whether or not they squeaked when squeezed. Those puffy little pillows were fascinating.
Last autumn, mom added a bunch of bulbs to the yard, mostly daffodils. In the past she hasn’t had much luck with tulips and was quite thrilled when she came back from vacation and they were blooming. The lupines are ready to bloom and it looks like we’ll have some nice bouquets of peonies. Mom said the bearded irises probably won’t be very good this year since they haven’t been thinned. She said anyone who wants some is free to put dibs on the extra ones.
While she’d love for our spring garden to look like this, it probably won’t ever happen since we don’t have a Volkswagen. {BOL} But how cool would an old yellow Bug be full of beautiful flowers?
Not related, but definitely in the pawsome news category, mom said I could share some great news. Castle Rock, a town in Douglas County, about 35 miles south of Denver finally got its act together and rescinded the longstanding ban on Pit Bulls after 26 years. It had been one of the longest breed specific bans along the Front Range. Some 60 dogs had been expelled from the city over the past decade. This was just too wonderful to NOT to share. Mom has been giddy and hopes there’s momentum building to rescind other backwater, outdated bans in Denver, Aurora and other cities within the state. We’ll do whatever we can to change opinions of narrow-minded officials and encourage others to do the same. Breed specific bans are shortsighted and unfair to a majority of responsible dog owners. We hope other cities will follow Castle Rock’s lead.
Now that you’ve had nice flowers and great news, we hope you have a super-duper weekend. I’ll be practicing more sit-stay commands. Are you doing anything exciting?
Live, love, bark! 🐾
We love squirrels here. They don’t bother anything in the garden. There’s that lovely Bleeding Heart again….awesome. Your tulips are beautiful. Mom loves the red ones. We have yellow….woopy ding. We would love some bearded irises. Mom has never grown them but the postage would kill you so we’ll just go buy them when it’s bulb planting time. The kids look so intelligent in the front yard.
Hugs,
Shoko
Thanks Shoko. Too bad you aren’t closer, I have a TON of bearded irises I’d happily send you if international rates weren’t so bloody high. Happy weekend. 🌷
Hoorah for Pitbulls! Love the photo of the two kids.
We hold pibble dogs in a very special place in our heart. 🐶
Do we want to talk about squirrels? I have an army of them, sitting under the palm trees munching on the dates that fall to the ground. I find stones everywhere. And the hounds don’t scare them anymore. (Lovely yard you have)
Thanks. The squirrels re pure hoodlums, chewing tender beaches from the maple tree. I could pick up daily. They’ve figured out Elsa’s MO and deftly escape. One of these days she’s going to catch one and has come close in the alley. #ohthatdog
Your flowers are beautiful! I love bleeding hearts! That bug is gorgeous with all those flowers
If only I could find a decently rusted Bug for the yard. What a planter!
Mommy loves Bleeding Hearts too but can’t keep them alive for some reason. We are so happy the ban was rescinded.
Two thing I’m finding hard to believe …. 1) The rain dampened Sam’s interest in squirrels … and 2) Mom hasn’t run out to find a VW Bug as a flower pot!
Pierre really misses chasing squirrels since our backyard doesn’t have trees. I left all of my bulbs when we moved with the exception of my heirloom spider lilies from my father-in-law’s home. I hope they bloom. I will be planting bulbs this fall. Great news on the breed ban reversal. I hope it spreads too!
It’s hard leaving some elements of our landscaping when it comes time to move. But look on the bright side…you get to create a whole new paradise. 😊
Should I contact some of my squirrel friends about helping you “tend” that garden?
They tend to ‘help out’ on their own volition. I’m trying to stay off their radar.
Spring sure has sprung!
It has and it’s gorgeous!
Great story!
Thanks. We are happy with spring’s arrival.
Oh gurl, I’m gonna have to side with Sam on this rain thing ~ I HATES to gets my furs wet! Butts, I will do a walkie in the rain IF I have my raincoat (the only time I wear ‘clothes’ btw!). Anyhu, you are rights abouts those tree rats! HOLY SQUIRREL NUTS! They NEVER take a day off! geesh! Butts, what else am I supposed to do, rights?? hehehee
Anyhu, you guys look FABulous in your lovely garden! Your Moms trusts you guys more than Ma trusts me…she puts most of the plants in jail where I can’t eats….um, I MEAN sniff them. meanie.
Have a most FABulous Cinco de Mayo guys!
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
Happy Cinco de Mayo, Ruby. Easy on the tacos and margaritas, ok? 🌮 🍹
SPRING!
Love the flowery post!
And yes, that bug is the ultimate example of flower power, lol.
Peace and flowers
☮️
And Pens . . they got a big one tonight.
I’m officially nervous. Caps are doing it, to it. 😬
This is where the veteran savvy of the Pens has to work its magic . . .
Hope springs eternal.
Indeed!
And I saw what you did there! lol
Beautiful flowers! I always think it’s a pain to plant bulbs in fall, but the payoff come spring is well worth it. I have to remind myself of that every fall.
It is. I remember being kind of tired of yet another gardening project but now am very grateful.
I adore Bleeding Hearts! I’d never seen them before until I spotted them in Crested Butte a couple of summers ago. They are so gorgeous! And you have them in your yard. Wow! I adore tulips too (red are my faves) so I’d be so happy in your yard! I agree about Castle Rock! Finally!
Once they established (oh, how I pampered them!) they have been very reliable and have even sent up additional plants nearby. Yippee!
Mom loves the bleeding hearts and this has made her think about planting some!
hugs
Hazel & Mabel
You won’t be sorry if you plant some.
What a perfect Friday…pretty flowers and anther step against Breed Ban Legislature!
xoxo,
Jakey, Arty & Rosy
Made us very happy, too.
Well, that was certainly a nice way to start off the weekend, Elsa, good news and beautiful flowers. It’s bound to be a good one now!
A sure guarantee for starting the weekend off on the right paw.
I did like the photograph of the dedicated gardeners…
Heh, heh. Yeah, the ‘helpers.’ At least they managed to ‘snoopervise’ well.😊
You should see Momma when I get close to something breakable … sometimes I sniff them just to stress her out 😉
Gorgeous flowers … I’ve got a weakness for tulips.
I think that skill is imbedded in pet DNA. 😁
Our bleeding heart hasn’t come up yet this year but it is a tough plant. The City tried to asphalt over it one year and it broke through the asphalt. It refuses to die.
Wow, now that’s a survivor!
Beautiful flowers and great sit/stay 🙂 Isn’t spring is the best?!
Spring usually comes and goes so quickly here but it sure is lovely while it’s here.
For sure a gorgeous flower post, E. Mom and I agree about the VW Bug. A bug full of flowers would be amazing!
Love and licks,
Cupcake
Definitely a showstopper and better if taxi-cab yellow. 🚕
Help! This is Xena (and Lucy) and our folks are going away for the whole weekend starting today and leaving us all alone. They’ve got this really nice, young, fun, er, I mean this mean old sitter who is going to move and invade our space and stuff. Sam, help, help! Make our Mom and Dad stay home or take us with them!! Aroooooo!
Egad…what manner of torture are your pawrents into these days??
Those bleeding hearts are spectacular. I don’t think we have those around here. I’ve got an iris blooming in my yard. Yep, that’s it. Wonderful news about the bullie ban!! Yay!
It’s worth looking for…and I believe is rated for Zones 3-9. May go dormant after blooming in the heat but should come back the following year.
I have to work with Ducky on her sit-stay with distractions; but she does a beautiful stand-stay when she’s focused on stalking the squirrels! Well, actually it’s more of a crouch-stay. 😁
Elsa and Sam, your spring is great already, our “bleeding hearts” just showed their nose above the ground, and tulips are open soon. I love your garden, it is very beautiful.
Kosmo,
a cat in faraway Finland.
Thank you Kosmo. Spring is a short season here and rushes toward summer. Bet your tulips are quite lovely. 🌷
Pawsome post Elsa! Great news about Castle Rock and such beautiful pictures. LOVE the pic of you two gorgeous pups in that lovely front garden! <3
Thank you. Castle Rock lifting the ban made mom’s heart sing. She loves ‘pibble’ dogs almost as much as us poodles.
We do too! <3
Your babies are adorable. So well behaved it appears. Love your yard. Very nice.
Have a fabulous day and weekend. Scritches to your babies. ♥
They have their moments. And not just when they’re asleep. 😍
Ban pit bulls? Everyone knows that most dangerous animal on earth is the human.
Boy…ain’t that the truth!
Elsa you are such a good sitter and stayer! And your mom is obviously a very proficient gardener. Even with the chilly damp air it seems that spring has sprung at the Ranch. Warm dry air is close behind. Enjoy!
Mother Nature is mom’s gardener. She just puts things in the ground that stand a good chance of surviving at a Mile High! 😉
I’m guessing you Monika may have just a little bit to do with the results.
Not particularly. I realized long ago not to fight nature and would rather work ‘with’ it by using as many native plants as possible. Garden woes mostly disappeared after that 🙂 but thank you.
Awesome news, it was about time they remove the Pit Bull ban! I love the floral Volkswagen. My neighbors have an old VW Bug car. but it is not as pretty as this one.
Yes, the removal of this ban was ‘fur-bulous’ news to us. I hope other cities follow suit. Thank you for swinging by the Ranch. We 💞 visitors. Share the VW image with your neighbors, maybe it’ll inspire them. 😊
Such a lovely yard. At my last house I removed all the grass except for a small patch in front. It was wonderful. I put in some paths and plantings around a huge deck. Easy peasy and very pretty.
Exactly. This corner lot is too big to water, mow repeat, in this climate. Besides, I think the ground covers (once they start blooming), bulbs and perennials are so much more interesting. 😍
My step-daughters live in Denver and their grass isn’t great (except for one with an auto sprinkler). One has started to replace with perennials and it’s so much more interesting. Here in the northeast with lots of water, it’s very grass intensive.
Denver is considered a high mountain desert and yet some try their hardest taking care of turf. Seems counter intuitive. Hope your step daughter enjoys the results. It’s hard work but ultimately rewarding and far easily to maintain.
Wonderful job at posting Elsa! Lovely flowers, always loved the bleeding heart flower and I think your Mom should go get a VW bug so you can fill it with flowers. 🙂
Sorry about Sam, you know how some guys are! You just gotta put up with them 🙂 He can be very charming though. Hope the sun shines soon for you all so you can get out on squirrel patrol again.
It’s a crystal blue sunny Colorado day so we’ll both be happy on our walks.
Yay!! Enjoy!
Oh my goodness – mom is in love with those Bleeding Hearts. They are so beautiful!! Do they smell? They are gorgeous. And you two looked so sweet in the picture together. You go sweet Elsa. XOXO – Bacon
Alas, they don’t have any fragrance but mama doesn’t care since they are so beautiful. She loves their pop of color against those green leaves.
YES! they are so gorgeous. We are going to have to check them out in our area. XOXO – Bacon
Good morning, Elsa,
You must tell your Mom she has a wonderful front yard. What if she comes here and does ours?! 😀
Have a wonderful weekend, y’alls,
Pit
P.S.: Finally, we have some rain here, too. Actually, just now it’s a downpour.
Thanks, Pit. Her garden has been evolving over the years and the day the last blade of grass was removed one of the happiest she’s had in this house. I’ll ask her to stop by to see your lovely ranch acres the next time she’s in Texas. 😊 Isn’t the rain wonderful? Drink up!
We’re really having a downpour, and so “our” wet-weather creek is running – quite a bit. I just took some pictures and posted one on Instagram and Twitter.
Hi Elsa. Anything full of flowers would be nice. I have – shall we say – a non white thumb. I go to the garden shop, buy plants which are healthy until I hand over my pennies and they instantly go into self-destruct. I have a a certain plants that is supposed to grow anywhere and it has spent the last year disguised as a stick. Flowers are nice until I touch them….Ho well :o(
Your comment about the plant that has disguised itself as a stick made my mom laugh out loud. She’s had a few of those herself.
Hi Elsa and Sam! Oh wow i didn’t know such a thing, bleeding hearts plant…so pretty 💞
Flower*
They are quite beautiful and they always make me smile.
Do they have a good scent??
Sadly they have no scent. 🙁
That’s ok still PRETTY to look at! Thanks for sharing.
😍
bwe have no volkswagen either… but I bet the mama is one of the bidders when there is one available on eBay once… that idea is just great!!!
Talk about a recycled project!
Hey Elsa! Go easy on Sam. He and I go back a few years now, and I don’t like rain either. He has done great things in his life so I might have to come and visit and straighten you out a little. WOOF! Ray.
Bring it on big boy. 😆
BOL! BOL! 🙂