Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Warmest Day of Spring (so far)

It got up to 89 degrees yesterday.  We were in and out all day.  K.J. helped do some raking and played with Heidi, then Larry took him to my parents' house while I worked on getting the leaves out of the beds and such.


When I ran out of energy for gardening, I took some photos.  This is a clematis that I forgot to trim back.  It seems to be doing OK.


I did trim this one back.  I love the blue flowers it gets.


I didn't get these leaves raked until today.


Larry got our two rain barrels put up.  The peonies are up!


Soon, there will be lots of color.



The sedums have nice little mounds this year.  They were pretty small last year.


The bush clematis is coming up.


The grape hyacinths are blooming!







Each time I go out, there are new things coming up, and there is lots of growth on the plants that have been up.






We're leaving the front yard, and going to the east side of the house.







The rudbeckias begged from a lady are growing.


These pasque flowers are different from the ones I have had longer, as shown in the previous photos, are a different color, and bloom a little later.










That little plant in the back corner between the cage with variegated grass behind it, and the cement slab the garbage cans are on is a hellebore.  When I planted it, I felt guilty for it, because it didn't seem like a good spot for it.  It gets shaded by other plants when it's hot, but it's not a handy place to water, and this spring, it's only been watered once.


It is doing better than some of the other hellebores.  I looked at some posts from a year ago last week, because I was looking to see what all was up and blooming.  I was surprised to see the blooms were yellow last year.  I wonder why they are darker colored this year.




Larry cut these grasses down today, and I got the leaves raked out of the flower bed.


Larry cleaned out the carport. He had the tool holder all torn apart.  Look how nice and straight he put the tools in!


I was still using a couple, so when I put them away, I did not have the patience to try to get them straight.  Hey, I didn't even get all of the leaves off of whatever that tool is called.


This is what the sky looked like when I quit for the night.


I'm guessing they will be coming this week to cut the tree down.


I worked on flower beds at church today.  We had a servant event, and different groups of folks went out and did different things.  Some did cleaning at church.  I didn't think to ask for a group to help with the flower beds ahead of time, but there were some who were helping get lunch ready, and saw me out there, so they came out to help.  It feels good that we got last year's dead stuff out.  I am in the process of having people sign up to "adopt" different areas for the season.  Even those who have adopted them, hadn't cleaned them out yet.  They will have a nice surprise.

Larry and I moved the tubs out from under the tree today, so that the tree crew will have room to work.  We also took the tarps off of pots and things in the carport, and took the lavenders and such out of the egress window well.  Larry did most of the arranging of things on the deck.  It's looking good.  I did more raking, and dug out some plants to give some co-workers.  I ran out of steam before I did last night, so I'm in finishing up this post.

Have a great week!

16 comments:

  1. I have a yellow lab that likes to "help" in the garden as well.

    You have a lovely yard - thank you for the virtual tour. I escpecially love the pasque flowers.

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  2. Sounds like sure enjoyed a warm, sunny day in the garden. Those pasque flowers are very pretty purple. Looks like we are finally getting some spring!

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  3. Wow, you have been a busy girl. I spent some time outside today myself,but didn't get near that much done.

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  4. Looks like you had a very busy day!! Your monarch sign made me think that I saw our first monarch of the season on Thurs. By today, there were several. .I also noticed that the asclepsias (butterfly weed) was emerging too. .just in time!! Have a great week!

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  5. That is a nice rain barrel.
    Your beds are nice and wide. Many plants coming. They look great.
    That headboard in the garden is very decorative. Pretty pieces like that really add to the flowers while being functional.
    Interesting about the hellebore color change. Soil PH perhaps?
    You got a lot done this weekend. The heat was crazy Saturday here too. Here's hoping for more spring like temperatures and some rain!

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  6. I was just reading Garden on Sherlock Street and they had 95 degrees, I'm jealous of your hot weather. I'm waiting for it to hit 60 and stay there for awhile. Your garden is really springing to life. I guess when the tree is gone you'll have a lot less leaves to clean up. Do you have plans for that area?

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  7. It's incredible how quickly your grass comes back! That's something we battle with almost all through summer, getting ours healthy and green.
    Your garden is going to look glorious once all your plants are in full bloom :)

    Holding thumbs the tree felling goes smoothly. Don't forget to save as much of the wood as possible ;)

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  8. Pogoda pozwolia i miałaś pracowity i z efektami dzień. U nas jest zimno (3 st.C) i trudno pracować. Wyobrażam sobie Twój ogród jak rośliny urosną i więcej kwiatów będzie kwitnąć. Będzie bardzo, ale to bardzo kolorowo. Pozdrawiam

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  9. Shat happened with the world's weather yesterday? It was our warmest day of the year so far too - a sweltering 72 degrees. (I had to look up what 22 degrees Centigrate was in Farenheit, since all our temps now are in Centigrade).

    You have so much popping up that it must be hard to keep track of it all. I love your blue pasque flowers. I am just discovering them - I have a burgundy variety, and am planning to get some more.

    Happy Spring gardening!

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  10. Evrything is looking good Sue. I need you down here to clean my flower beds. They are last in line of gardenng chores.

    We had a very hot day too but got a nice rain during the night.

    Good luck with the tree project!

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  11. I got a little red with this warm weather. I am looking forward to seeing your blooms.

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  12. You enjoyed a labor-intensive but Very Satisfying day, I see! :-) I so enjoy giving everything a "clean slate" from which to grow and bloom! Yours looks wonderful.

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  13. Hi Sue,
    All is looking good. I have Nebraska on my quick look weather stations and saw 89 and freaked! That's a Houston April day and you are a 1000 miles further north!
    Everything looks good. I love that rainbarrel set up. I have two and plan to get 2 more.
    We're in a terrible drought in Texas.
    Happy Spring.
    David/ Tropical Texana/ Houston :-)

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  14. Wow, your garden has had some turn around.
    Ane it's only began...can't wait for next month!

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  15. Sounds like a great spring day for getting lots done in the garden and with temps like this your plants will be growing really fast. Beautiful pasque flowers.

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  16. These are great photos... I really like the ones with guy using the electrical saw. Nice :)

    http://ladyonaroof.blogspot.com/

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