Friday, March 11, 2011

Spring in my Step

I didn't have to go to work yesterday, because they had some tournament basketball games at our school.  I spent the morning making a huge mess trying to do some cleaning out.  As soon as I noticed it was nice enough to go outside, I did.

Before I started the clean up, I took some "before" photos.  I had read about cutting the old hellebore leaves off, so I did that first.  I took photos of several, but not all of them.  Some were planted 2 years ago, the rest, last spring.

Well, I used to be able to put 10 photos as a time into the blog post, and there was room between the photos to write.  This time, I had to put them in one at a time, and did not think to put space between them.  I was able to scoot them down from the bottom, and now, this has become a two day process.  What a pain!

The bed on the south side of the house has 5 or 6  hellebores in it.


The large front yard bed has several as well.


The east side of the house:



I think this is back to the front of the house after I trimmed back the old leaves.


The east side of the house:


The large front bed?:


One of the two clumps of surprise lilies is coming up.  It seems like one came up before the other last year, too.


Do you know what this is?  LOL  I have two neighbor friends who used to put one or two clumps of artificial flowers in my beds very early for a prank.  They haven't done it lately.  I sure was interested in what these lovely green leaves were, and saw that they are artificial.  I don't know if the neighbors put it there, or if it blew in from someone's garbage. 


I'm seeing more and more green! 


'Fireworks' Goldenrod:


Tulips that were given to me by the aforementioned neighbor friends:


The chives are up!  Yippee!


I don't remember if I've known what this is.  Do you know?  It's in the herb garden.


The woodland phlox in the tub is greening up.  I hope what I planted in the ground is, too.


Here are some broader views taken before I started the clean up.




I didn't take the after photos from the same angles.  I'm not finished, but it felt so good to be out there.




I also got my second planting of lettuce, spinach, radishes, beets, and a few carrots done.  Only one little lettuce plant is up so far from the first planting, but it may actually be a volunteer from last year.  Much of the garden is still too wet, but soon, I want to get some peas in.

The main spring in my step is due to thankfulness of knowing Jesus as my Savior.  The other spring is from the arrival of our gardening season.  Yes, winter weather will still be faced, but gardening time is here!

My prayers are with the people of Japan.  I hope Fer is OK.  I'm trying to remember if there is anyone else I know from Japan.  I hope they are going to be able to get the help they need to prevent further problems.

18 comments:

  1. Oh, girl you are SO ready for spring, aren't you? Seeing lots of shades of green poking through.

    The countdown is on!

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  2. Isn't it nice to find signs of life poking through the dead leaves. Love that your neighbors "plant" silk plants in your garden. Funny group you live near.

    I'm finding the same thing uploading photos. I used to be able to select a bunch press go and walk away. Now, I need to go back and forth to select each one. Why????

    I'm planning to plant some lettuce and such tomorrow. Today was beautiful but I had to work. Hoping Saturday will be good for us!

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  3. Sue, How wonderful to see so many signs of spring in your garden~Oh my yes it's a long process to load photos! gail

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  4. Sue,
    Looking forward to seeing those hellebores blooming. Some of ours are building seeds already. Meg has a student that her and her family just days ago arrived in Toyoko, hope they are ok.

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  5. Sue it must be warmer out there. Enjoy
    What gave me spring in my step today was finding the fruit trees I wanted, it will be next week before I can plant them, or the next. Ground is still frozen here.

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  6. I trimmed fruit trees yesterday and it did feel good to be out in that warm sunshine.

    I have one very small clump of hellebores and so far, I am not very impressed with them. I hope that changes.
    It will be nice to see all yours bloom.

    Have a great weekend.

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  7. Underneath all those brown, crinkly leaves, nature is springing to life in a most magnificent way. Soon, your garden will be transformed into its colourful, fruitful, lush Spring and Summer glory. How tremendously exciting!

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  8. Funny about the silk flowers in your yard...it is a great time of the year...what happened in Japan is just insane! It' affecting a lot of places.

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  9. Hi Sue, I hope to be out in the garden today to do some clean up. Isn't it fun to see the first signs of spring??!! I have had artificial leaves in my garden too. Usually they blow out of christmas decorations. They look really odd out there sparkling in the sun. I have had friends put things in my garden too. The rascals.

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  10. Wow Sue, you are moving right along into spring. I look forward to seeing your lovely gardens again this season.

    Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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  11. I have a nice mulcher, but can also burn. It clears off a few items.I keep seeing more and more, you have me beat.

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  12. Everything looks happy.
    Nice to see I'm not the only gardener who won't clean up all the leaves till spring.
    Leaves are good durning the winter...right?

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  13. Dear Sue, I haven't made a start on the clearing up, but you inspire me to get out there. A new gardening season is such a joy. Love to see those green leaves and new shoots in your garden. P x

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  14. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I clean out my beds each spring. Looks like a new season is beginning in your area too. :)

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  15. Glad to see you're able to get out in some spring weather Sue. Feels good, doesn't it?

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  16. I took a walk around my yard and looked along the foundation where the snow has melted...nothing! But yesterday, I drove to my sister's lake home ...about 20 miles south and saw that her "Ressurection lillies" were coming up! Just seeing a bit of green cheered me up on a weekend so filled with sadness. Looking forward to seeing your yard in bloom!

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  17. Today I saw the 1st hint of green peaking out of the soil, a hyacinth. What are sleeve things to protect caterpillars that you mentioned on my blog? I am so ready for spring.

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  18. Thanks for the comments. It has been a chilly weekend, but the week's highs are supposed to be in the 50s and 60s. The week after that, I am off of work. I hope the nice weather continues so I can spend lots of time outside.

    Iowa Gardening Woman asked about the sleeve I was talking about. I am putting in a link to the Monarch Watch shop. There are also other sources for them that I've seen online in the past. I don't remember which site had the kind I was wanting. I know there are different sizes. Here's the link:

    http://shop.monarchwatch.org/product.aspx?p=113205%28base%29

    Have any of you used one of these outside before?

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.