After a showery start to this Tuesday, the sun is peeking out. It's a typical summer morning in North Carolina with humidity around 87%. To say it the air is a bit thick is putting it mildly, but the trees and other plants are loving their morning bath. The Magnolia tree is in bloom. The Magnolia flower is my favorite flower, with the mimosa coming in at a close second place. Roses are nice, but cannot hold a candle to the glory and perfume of a huge magnolia flower, or to the feathery fragrant bloom of the mimosa tree. Looking around on eBay, I've found a few perfumes of the magnolia and mimosa. I'm watching those auctions to see if I can nab one of them, so I an enjoy those lovely fragrances for longer than a few scant weeks in the early summer. The Magnolia tree gifted me with a few blooms low on the tree so that inhaling the perfume may be enjoyed up close and personal. Most of the blooms are up high, the tree wearing them like large white bows against the dark green foliage. I am not sure what variety of Magnolia this is, but have narrowed the possibility down to the Umbrella Magnolia.
The Mimosa tree is one I planted from a seed and it has spread out its canopy in search of more sun. I regret not having planted it in a sunnier spot in the landscape. I have seen Mimosas that typically grow along the edges of roadways among a forest of trees. These Mimosas do not get the benefit of being planted in their own selected spot and grow to a weedy looking tree. The best specimens I have seen have been planted as a feature in a landscape. The best ones are full and grow a large crown, and in the months of May/June the pink wispy blossoms appear, which hummingbirds love.
With the ample rains we have experienced in this part of North Carolina this spring, the Magnolia and Mimosa are looking great, but the grass is growing rapidly. It's necessary to mow every few days so the dogs will have a nice area to roll, run, and play. But there are parts of the yard where I cannot reach with the mower and the grass grows tall. Not having the luxury of a weed-eater, I have to clip it with old fashioned, woman powered hedge clippers, thus I miss some spots of the tall stuff. My dogs inevitably head for the tall tufts of grass, of what I call the Grass Bar and munch away on it. I cannot find any definitive research that says why dogs eat grass. And how would this be researched anyway? How does anyone know that a dog eats grass because his tummy hurts? Did he tell you that he has a stomach ache? Did the tummy ache happen before he ate the grass or did the grass eating cause the tummy ache? I wish dogs could tell us. It is a perplexing subject, and with two of my dogs being Great Danes, I find it worrying. To vent my anxiety about my Great Danes eating grass, (Danes are prone to a serious gastric distress called bloat), I created a small painting depicting Pembroke Welsh Corgis at the Grass Bar & Pub, with a Harlequin Great Dane as the attending Barkeeper.
After a showery start to this Tuesday, the sun is peeking out. It's a typical summer morning in North Carolina with humidity around 87%. To say it the air is a bit thick is putting it mildly, but the trees and other plants are loving their morning bath. The Magnolia tree is in bloom. The Magnolia flower is my favorite flower, with the mimosa coming in at a close second place. Roses are nice, but cannot hold a candle to the glory and perfume of a huge magnolia flower, or to the feathery fragrant bloom of the mimosa tree. Looking around on eBay, I've found a few perfumes of the magnolia and mimosa. I'm watching those auctions to see if I can nab one of them, so I an enjoy those lovely fragrances for longer than a few scant weeks in the early summer. The Magnolia tree gifted me with a few blooms low on the tree so that inhaling the perfume may be enjoyed up close and personal. Most of the blooms are up high, the tree wearing them like large white bows against the dark green foliage. I am not sure what variety of Magnolia this is, but have narrowed the possibility down to the Umbrella Magnolia. 
The Mimosa tree is one I planted from a seed and it has spread out its canopy in search of more sun. I regret not having planted it in a sunnier spot in the landscape. I have seen Mimosas that typically grow along the edges of roadways among a forest of trees. These Mimosas do not get the benefit of being planted in their own selected spot and grow to a weedy looking tree. The best specimens I have seen have been planted as a feature in a landscape. The best ones are full and grow a large crown, and in the months of May/June the pink wispy blossoms appear, which hummingbirds love. 
With the ample rains we have experienced in this part of North Carolina this spring, the Magnolia and Mimosa are looking great, but the grass is growing rapidly. It's necessary to mow every few days so the dogs will have a nice area to roll, run, and play. But there are parts of the yard where I cannot reach with the mower and the grass grows tall. Not having the luxury of a weed-eater, I have to clip it with old fashioned, woman powered hedge clippers, thus I miss some spots of the tall stuff. My dogs inevitably head for the tall tufts of grass, of what I call the Grass Bar and munch away on it. I cannot find any definitive research that says why dogs eat grass. And how would this be researched anyway? How does anyone know that a dog eats grass because his tummy hurts? Did he tell you that he has a stomach ache? Did the tummy ache happen before he ate the grass or did the grass eating cause the tummy ache? I wish dogs could tell us. It is a perplexing subject, and with two of my dogs being Great Danes, I find it worrying. To vent my anxiety about my Great Danes eating grass, (Danes are prone to a serious gastric distress called bloat), I created a small painting depicting Pembroke Welsh Corgis at the Grass Bar & Pub, with a Harlequin Great Dane as the attending Barkeeper. 
<3 this!
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