Our summer so far has really not been a warm one. Rain, and temperatures between +10 and +15C in the day time making our summer only a few degrees warmer than last winter was! Night temperatures have been below +10C constantly for 2-3 weeks already, killing nearly everything in our garden. The only thing prospering despite the cold are the strawberries, native to our stark country.
The moths have attacked a whole lot of trees again, making them look ghosty, even in the sunlight.
When I was a kid, I used to love lilacs. I thought they were very beautiful, and furthermore, I liked to suck the pistil from the flowers. For some reason I later on have started to believe that they are, while still maybe quite nice looking, nothing special because of how common they are here. So I haven't even taken any photos of them this year. Until yesterday. They have been blooming for several weeks already, and the flowers have started falling off now.
We have reached the weeks of nearly nightless nights, with the sun dipping below the horizon only for a few hours. The evening skies are quite beautiful when the sun hangs low just above the horizon, coloring the clouds and trees with a very special June light spectrum.
Nothing much really happened in the nature while I was gone. The time was cloudy, rainy and very cold. I did notice some new flowers on my dog walks today though, the biggest thing being that the rowan flowers that were only buds last weekend, have opened during the week.
Caterpillars have been invading some trees again there in the forest.
I spent four days on the island of Gran Canaria, staying in Las Palmas, but visiting the sunnier southern places on two occasions. There are flowers blooming all year round on the island, so in May too. I walked through the dunes in Maspalomas, where there grow some plants with tiny yellow flowers.
Last year we didn't have too many flowers in our garden, but this year we have planted some flower seeds to some pots and containers, and got a couple of lilies, a rose and some other potted flowers from people, condolences on my mom's recent death. The flower seeds have only just started to sprout, but I planted these potted flowers in the ground today, and our yard looks suddenly a whole lot nicer :)
Also, took a picture of a rhododendron by a neighbor's door. One of my favorite flowers. We have a huge one at our summerplace.
Lilies of the valley are starting to put out flowers. The first shy ones are already open, some have only buds, but most none yet. White dead-nettles are in full bloom as are a whole lot of other flowers in the forest, and the buckeyes too. Wild strawberries have flowers, whereas those garden ones in our yard have none yet.
Spring is rapidly turning into summer. While it is still May, the nature is in full summer mode. We have +26C in the day time, and even during the night the temperature doesn't drop below 15 degrees. Everything is in flower. Apple trees, dandelions (many of them already turned to those white balls already), all sorts of little road side flowers, hedges and vines in peoples yards, and rhododendrons and tulips (many of which are already beyond) et al. And trees are heavy with catkins, though birches seem to be past the worst.
Yesterday I went to the stables at Nurmijärvi with my eldest daughter; there are many apple trees there, starting to bloom, whereas here they are already in full bloom. Today I walked aroud our neighborhood with our dog and my camera.
Also, our beans and last year's rucola (I guess it dropped a whole lot of seeds!) are growing nicely :) Hosta undulatas on our yard are growig fast too, and those flower seeds I planted a week ago are starting to sprout.
There are now two tulips in bloom in our yard. Today was a rainy day, so they both kept their flowers closed. We don't have any filipendulas, but many of our neighbors do and they are heavy with flowers. Ferns are unrolling themselves here and there.
