Springtime in Pittsburgh

So, I've been digging a few of the dandelions that have germinated from the 50 zillion plants my lovely neighbor is growing across the street.  Tonight he took the unprecedented action of using a line trimmer to his little hillside, effectively spattering the pretty little white puffs and their bazillion seedlings over the entire neighborhood.  I keep telling myself that I'd rather have him and his lovely family + their dandelion field ("job security" as the Scott's Lawncare guy called it) than an anal retentive jerk and a perfect lawn across the street. I repeat this again to myself  when looking down at a 14 inch taproot I've spent 5 minutes of my life extracting from my flowerbeds!

But I digress...Once again we've gone straight from crappy, cold, rainy March weather to pre-summer, dry, almost 80 degree days.  Whatever happened to a normal April- or May?  This would be kinda OK if every year the long awaited opening of my gorgeous Tree Peony (Kamada Nishiki) wasn't accompanied by the knowledge that it's gorgeous 6 inch silken flowers would last only 3 or 4 days with the sudden onset of hot weather. I am attaching a photo of the Tree Peony so I'm not the only one who gets to enjoy it.  It will be a memory in a couple of days!