In the Garden

The hyacinth are done for the year but the violas are sending up buds again.
These look prettier this year than they did last year.

My poppy is getting a little out of control. Must be very happy near the house!

Unfortunately, the primrose are starting to fade.

The wee tot's Japanese maple tree (year 4)

Dianthus/fire witch
(year 3 but it didn't bloom last year after being transplanted the previous fall. Hopefully it will bloom this year. It does have good growth so I think it is setting buds. Fingers are crossed)

monarda/bee balm (year 1)

Bearded Iris (year 2)

Meadowsweet (year 1)

My jealous Oscar. He doesn't like me leaving him inside and then taunting him by playing in the flower bed :o)

The foxglove planted itself here as did the Labrador violets. Since the deer ate the lilies last year I'm not going to worry about it too much but I will be making sure the foxglove doesn't creep forward any further. And yes, there is a daylily in there also. This poor little bed needs some serious work in the fall!

I'm not sure which one is doing the crowding, the poppy or the phlox.
I have a feeling I will be relocating the phlox soon(since poppies aren't too fond of being moved).

The return of the salvia (year 4, I believe)

SURPRISE! A small rose bush growing in the side yard.

Another surprise, this peony is in our little side yard also. The neighbor had mowed over it and the rose most of last year so I never saw what color they could be. This year, we have no neighbors on that side so I will be putting a support around the peony, after I weed the entire side yard that is. I will let the little rose take shape as well and transplant some of the large daylilies I have in the front garden bed to make more room for the other flowers that are crowded.

Speaking of peonies, remember this one?
The above photo was taken on April 24th

Three days later, on the 27th

The very next day, the 28th

and today!
It blew my mind that this thing was growing so fast.
I swear the one day I could see it growing from one potty break for the dog to the next.
Crazy!

In the Garden

Missed this post on Friday so I went out on Easter Sunday and took a few current photos of the garden. It is very wet out there but I do have daffodils blooming at long last!

In the Garden

The primrose are really popping this week as are the hyacinth.
Just in time for Easter!

This photo really shows how well the poppy is doing!

Aesthetically speaking, the above photo isn't the prettiest but you can at least see the different shades of pink. They actually look much different in person, not all are actually pink, they just photograph that way. (In the big space was another smaller primrose but a rabbit came along and ate it before I took this photo.)

This primrose is a pretty pale pink

This primrose is a red violet color. Much more purple than it looks.

And this primrose is more of a fuchsia. It is much brighter than it photographs.

Yellow. The only color that photographs correctly.

These are so pretty. A lovely shade of blue violet, looks great with the primrose!

I was surprised to see my Labrador violets blooming. They are easy to overlook since they are so small but they are so sweet. I just love violets. I am also planting some sweet violets this year from seed.

My peony is not only coming back for its second year but it is thriving. It is planted in a large pot so I always get anxious that it will freeze out and fail to come back but it has sent up 3 shoots so far so I guess it's pretty happy. It should have stunning blossoms this year. It is called Buddha's Lotus Seat and it is suppose to have pink outer petals with pale golden center petals. So excited to see it in all it's glory!

In this messy clump of green, I have lilies sneaking up through a foxglove. I believe it is a black beauty lily but I'm not sure. Last year, the deer ate my lily before it was able to bloom(right after it set its buds). I'm hoping since it is now nestled in the foxglove it may have a better chance. I also ordered some Liquid Fence on the advice of an artist friend. I look forward to seeing how well it works. It would be a Godsend if I don't have to build a fence around my little garden bed. It is also suppose to keep rabbits out (yay!) I will keep you posted on results, it should be here this week so I should be able to see how effective it is pretty quickly.

This post is a little later than I planned it to be but I was having some issues with the laptop I upload all of my photos to. It refused to boot up. I found out that it was having issues because it was attached to the printer but since I had that scare, the thought that I wouldn't have my database of photos (art, family and other), made my husband back it up before we shut it down. Hopefully, it will continue to serve it's purpose until I can get a new one. Until then, at least I know I'll have all my photos saved to a safe place.

In the Garden

Not a ton of photos today but I do have a blossom and others just itching to bloom. We are going outside tomorrow(it will be near 80!) to plant some new fleurs and put up some deer netting around the beds before they do any further damage. It won't be pretty but it will preserve my pretty beds :o) (BTW, the sunny photos are from today, the shady ones from yesterday)

In the Garden

Violas are blooming in the garden. A pesky squirrel dug up the ones that were in the planter with the peony. Speaking of, the peony is coming back to life. I was a bit nervous because it lives in a planter and this winter was so cold that there was that outside chance it may freeze. As you can see below by the little pink nub, it did not.

Daylilies are popping up in every garden bed. I haven't located some of the newer ones but I also haven't had a chance to weed and remove dead leaves. I'm sure as soon as I clear the beds, they will reappear. I love daylilies because they are so resilient.

I have iris scattered here and there. They aren't doing as well would have liked or expected. We will see when spring really kicks in how they are going to do. In the one flower bed, the squirrels appear to have had some fun digging them up.

Besides dead matter and sprouts, if you look closely you can find quite a bit of bunny and deer droppings. Free fertilizer I guess.

Labrador violets are popping up all over my main garden bed. Since I'm a huge violet fan, I don't mind. I consider it a pretty ground cover.

These are the two strongest poppy plants but there are more interspersed throughout the beds. These are closer to the house and therefore warmer. That's my guess for why they are looking so great :o)

My mom buys me primrose every year so I keep them alive until spring and plant them by the front door. I'm not sure how many I have now but they love their little home. They also bloom throughout most of the winter!

I have four hyacinth coming up. Can't wait to see these guys in all their splendor.

Both my lavender and pink phlox are coming up. Phlox isn't my favorite flower but for some reason, I get really excited when these guys come back. I've had the pink since I lived in Columbus (about 5 years) and the lavender since we lived in Cleveland (3 years). Every time we move, I dig them up and bring them with us.

Garden Mums.

Another mum below in the jungle of weeds that exists in my small, front garden bed. I had my bird feeder over there so I could watch my birds while doing the dishes. Needless to say, the weeds are very hardy.

Finally, some plants that need to be planted ASAP. They just arrived this week but with a cold snap they have to wait a bit before they can be introduced to their new home. Temps are due to go up next week so I'll try to get them in then. In the meantime, I will keep them in the cool mudroom and water them occasionally.