Yard and Garden

Since it is spring, and since the weather has calmed considerably just lately (koff koff) it's a good time to spend a while in my back yard and enjoy my flower beds.  Among other things already in the beds when I moved into my current house are some very nice yellow-orange day-lilies.  There is one in particular in the back flower bed which is as happy as a clam, with a bazillion buds: 



Next to that, are some recently planted irises.  These arrived courtesy of my mom, who had them in a planter bed.  This bunch wound up homeless (long story, there) though mom still has some others in her yard.  I was mostly just hoping that mine would all take this first year and hang in there, as they had been having a rough life before they were replanted, but not only have some of them really settled in, a fair number started to bud out:

Now they have joined the lily in a riot of blumes, creating a bright, cheerful purple-and-yellow canvas:

And last, but not least from the back yard, are two young redbud trees.  These were offspring of a giant redbud mom and dad have in their backyard which produces about sixty-gazillion babies each spring.  So they had a couple of extras. 

The near one was planted not long after I moved in, and it really took off last year (that's MR Redbud to you, thanks) and the other one (harder to see) was planted early last year and is small yet.  Once they reach full size, they should provide some nice shade for the porch and swing. 

My two cats (more on them soon) absolutely love playing in the back yard, which is fenced in, so they can't wander the whole neighborhood and go looking for trouble.  This compromise seems to satisfy all parties, though the cats have been known to turn Marco Polo if for any reason a gate is accidentally left open.  And when the gate is just standing open like that, is it their fault if they can't resist the call to go exploring?