Two Trees; One Ring

I waited and waited for a good moment to take the photos.  It's raining today after a lo-ong spell of summery sunshine.  The plants are very happy and growing but it is very hard to take comparative pictures. 

The maple has sprouted four grown-up looking leaves where there was only one last week.  If I hadn't had the branch marked, I would have been lost as to where I should be shooting.  Even then, I couldn't believe that the leaves looked so very, very different this week.

My umbrella-holding assistant was relieved not to be asked to climb after me when i went after the copper beech.  I have always had to climb over a bank of ground-cover to get to it.  But the ground-cover (geranium macrorhizome) is now at it's most splendid.  The leaves have shot up over a foot and the blossoms are a good bit taller than that.  Those leaves hold the rain so well and I got just a little wet.

But nevergive up.  Intrepid lady explorers must not worry about a drenching when on a mission.  Here is my trophy.  Definitely, a "my how you've grown!" moment.  There is no sign of the chrysalis at all now.  And clearly there were several leaves hiding inside.  Nature is amazing.

Elsewhere in the garden, I found the snow peas and mange-tout growing happily in the rain.  I can't wait to sample them.