Landscaping: What's in Bloom

When we asked our landscaper to plant Rose of Sharon in front of my workout room window a few weeks ago, I had hoped the blooms would be lavender, a color which is supposed to represent "love at first sight" or "enchantment" (apropos given our love story). Instead the blooms are white ("purity", "loyalty") and deep pink ("gratitude"). Apparently, what I most needed was a regular reminder to be grateful for God's faithfulness and righteousness which purifies even the darkest hearts and helps us remain loyal to God and to each other. Here's the first bloom of the season right before we left for our anniversary trip with hundreds of buds preparing to bust open.

Here's what the shrub looked like when we returned home two days later.

 

Our landscaper added removed poorly growing wax myrtles and planted a lot of new trees and shrubs along the fence, but I wasn't expecting any of them to bloom right away given the stress of transplanting them. The crepe myrtles surprised me by blooming last week.  The crepe myrtles in the front of the house planted in December of 2013 by the builder's crew haven't bloomed once yet, but these are so tall.  I love the color. 

A very loud, very annoying bird whose cries sound like metal clanking built a nest in the large holly we had planted right outside the fitness room window where I can look out while on the elliptical.  Soon, baby birds will be adding their voices to the annoying  racket outside my window.