Sunday, March 31, 2013

Maybe Spring is Here Now

We've had a few mild days, with temps in the 60s, but they are saying we could get almost half an inch of snow tonight.  I think the highs for the next few days are supposed to be in the 40s.  I don't remember for sure what numbers they were showing, because I was pouting about the snow.  I did get most of the leaves out of the flower beds over the last few days.  I left some on purpose for a little mulch.  Larry isn't tickled about it, but I told him the plants would grow large enough to hide the leaves soon.

It's time to start showing what's growing in the different areas of the yard.  I decided to start by taking some photos of the east side of the house today, since it was mostly shaded.  The first two photos, though, I went back out later, when this part was fully shaded, as it was sunny up to the egress window when I took the other photos.


I started thinning out the irises last year, and see I am not finished.  The pasque flowers next to the black border are barely up, and not visible in this photo.  I was looking at last year's blog posts, and I'm thinking they were blooming the end of March.


The Woodland phlox is up.


I'm glad to see the Zig Zag goldenrod has spread some.  This kind does not need as much sun as some others goldenrods.


I need to decide whether I will thin the spiderworts or remove some of them.  They are so pretty much of the time, but sometimes die back and get ratty looking in the summer.


The Mountain mint, I think Short-toothed has spread a bit more than usual.  I didn't get the stems picked up like I usually do.  I'll have to pull out what's growing in the Amsonia.  I just looked at the USDA Plants Database to make sure this is the one I'm thinking it is, because I have at least three kinds of Mountain mint.  I found there are even more kinds than this, and many of them are native to Nebraska.  I think I knew that, but I seem to be forgetful lately.


This is probably the most crowded corner, but the plants in it seem to not mind growing in the same space.  There are irises, 'Fireworks' goldenrod, and Rudbeckia 'Herbstonne', and the Baptisia is not up yet.


The next section is under the garden window, and next to a basement window.  I've decided to take out the Russian sage that is in front of the bed frame.  It gets too tall and bush, and crowds other plants in the area that I like better.  Can you see the Hellebore clump?


The Virginia Bluebells are not spreading as much as I'd like, but I'm tickled they are coming up.


Here's the Hellebore.


This is looking back toward where we came.  I am looking forward to the flowers filling up the spaces.


I am pleased the Bleeding Heart is coming up for its second year here, after having to move from its spot under the tree that had to come out.


I call this Virginia Waterleaf, but when I looked it up, I see it's also called Eastern Waterleaf.  It's native to Nebraska.  I deadhead it to prevent it from self sowing, as I've heard it can be prolific.


Continuing to the area next to the back yard, I have a gap to fill, since I decided to take out the Bear's Breeches, because it was so big, and I didn't know how big it was planning on getting.  It can spread aggressively, and I didn't bury the barrier around it that I had planned to.  I want to plant something native to our area here.



I am thinking this is gentian.  I have a couple others in the front yard.  I am pleased to see them.


This is Lovage.  It is related to Zizia auria, a native plant I just learned about a year or so ago and planted.  Not only do the blooms look alike, but the leaves do, too, as they are coming up.


The daffodils should be blooming soon.


I'm trying to decide if I want to keep the globe thistle plants.  The flowers have been having something eating on them, and they don't look good for very long.


We've made it to the shed.  I plan on taking out the variegated grass that's in front of the ladder.  It sprawls all over other plants in the area, and doesn't stay upright.  I am also taking out the lirope.  When we added on at church a number of years ago, I brought a clump home.  It has spread more than I wanted it to.


The lead plant is one of the last plants to green up in the spring.


Well, there is not much to see yet, but soon, there will be much less dirt showing!


At this point, some of you have lots of blooms, and others are still waiting for snow to melt.  Happy Easter, and may God bless you and yours.

12 comments:

  1. How exciting to see your gardens coming back to life. Pretty soon they will be filled to overflowing with color, texture and beauty.

    Happy Spring ~ FlowerLady

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  2. Wow! Lots of great plants coming up. I too am hoping that the Virginia Bluebells I have planted decide to spread this year. The snow is finally starting to melt here, but I feel nervous about uncovering the plants just yet. It pains me to wait since there is so much to do.

    Looking forward to seeing more pictures soon!

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  3. You are making me want to get outside and start cleaning up and looking for things. Our weather seems to be similar to yours; a few warm days then cold again.

    I know I have lost several things probably due to too many years of drought. I have that same little hellebore and it looks to be about the same size as yours. It just sits there and never seems to grow or spread.

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  4. Your spring green up is further along than ours .. and we have been snow free for about two weeks. I think this is a very early spring for us so our plants are holding out with caution. It's an exciting time of the year! Hope you had a wonderful Easter.

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  5. Ah, well you certainly have a lot of beauties beginning to make their presence known! I was thrilled to see that my Daffodils and Crocuses are about to bloom. The mini-Daffs and the Hellebores were under a very thick coating of snow from built-up snow piles, and with a snow total of 62 inches this season, it has taken some time to melt. Almost gone now, though. Yay! Happy Spring, Sue!

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  6. Grow plants grow! The plants seem to be finding their way in the beds as they sprout. Spring is sure trying to get here.

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  7. It's a good feeling when you can see the perennial plants coming back to life. About the Zigzag goldenrod - give it another year, it will start spreading EVERYWHERE.

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  8. Hi Sue....It looks like your flowers are really coming along!! Things look great! By the way, in the picture where you say "this is looking back from where we came" and there is a headboard.....Do you plant that oval galvanized pot? We have one just like it and I plant it with all kinds of annuals. I'm looking forward to seeing your garden as spring progresses!

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  9. Your garden is really waking up - so nice to see! I can't wait to catch up with you :-)

    My spiderworts also get ratty sometimes in summer... supposedly you can give them a haircut and they will grow back with fresh new foliage. I haven't tried it yet though.

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  10. It looks like your garden is really ready for spring, Sue. I hope you didn't get the snow this past weekend--we had snow in our forecast, too, but it never materialized. I've been trying to clean up my garden little by little, but have a long ways to go. The hyacinths were certainly happy I raked all those big oak leaves off them--they looked a little sickly from being under such a dark blanket:) Thanks for the tip on the bears breeches; I've been eyeing these, thinking I would plant a few, but not if they're spreaders--I don't need any more thugs in my garden!

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  11. It's so exciting to see everything peeking out in the spring, isn't it? I hope your daffodils have bloomed out by now, like mine. I just love that jolt of yellow!

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  12. Wow! I'm amazed at how much is popping through the soil so soon. You're garden is at least 3 weeks ahead of mine. Thanks for the tour. It's a reminder to me of what still hasn't popped up and gives me something to look forward to! God Bless!

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