It's Almost Spring!

I've been looking at past March posts to compare how far along we are toward spring, and to see at what point I have had the flower beds cleaned up.  Last year was behind the previous year, and this year seems to be a bit behind last year.  People are saying it is too soon to rake the leaves off of the beds, but  I just have to be outside working with the highs in the 50s and 60 we've been having.  I am getting at least the top layer of leaves off so that the plants that are growing can have some light.  I have also started taking off last year's dead growth on plants, putting it in piles across the street.  As I work, I am pleased to see a number of plants coming up. 

I just seem to have one clump of crocus, but am glad to see it blooming.

I'm glad to see the daffodils are growing.

I can't remember what kind of Mountain mint this is.  The foliage is closer to the Short toothed than Virginia.

 I like alliums.

I thinned the Drumstick alliums last year, but kept a few clumps.

 I spent some time looking at photos from last year trying to figure out what this plant is, but I didn't figure it out.  It sure looks big and ready to grow!

It's a good thing I cut back the sedges and some of the grasses, because they are ready to grow.

I'm glad to see a number of Penstemons have new growth.

I don't know what these are yet, but am hoping they are one of the early spring blooming native plants I put in the last year or two.

The Prairie smoke geum is looking good.

I am excited to be subbing as a para now, and plan to only work a day or two this week.  I'll pick the coolest days of the week to work.  I hope to tackle this part of the yard soon.

I will soon be pulling the old leaves off of the Hellebores.  Hopefully, they will be blooming soon.  They were already blooming last year at this time.

I started the clean up in the front, since it is south facing.  I figured spring comes a little sooner here.

The west side of the yard is not done yet.  I plan to do that, hopefully, Monday.

I am going to have to take the circle "steppers" from the tree we had cut down in 2011 because they are starting to fall apart.  I can find somewhere across the street to put them, since there are critters using them.

This may be my favorite part of the yard.

I now have some photos to look at for future spring comparisons, and soon, this will also be cleaned up, ready for new growth.

I'll finish up with a Purple milkweed pod.  For those of you who just planted milkweed last year, it is one of the last plants to come up in the spring, so don't give up on it when everything else is up.  Once up, it grows pretty quickly, and catches up.

For those of you with snow still on the ground, I hope it melts quickly, and your plants have benefited from all of that moisture.  It's dry here.  I hope we get some rain.

( I posted this last night, and this morning's paper's "Five Things to Do This Week" included cutting things back and planting radishes and lettuce.  That's good.  I forgot to mention that I got lettuce, spinach, carrots, radishes, and peas in last week.  It's the latest I've planted these things for a number of years.  I normally plant in February, but was able to get some in in January last year.  Each year, they come up when the soil warms enough, and can withstand cold and even being snowed on.  Now, we need some moisture.)

Looking Back to the First Couple Weeks Of June, 2013

Our neighborhood association has been having garden tours for a number of years.  When I was asked to be on it this year I hesitated, and suggested it may be better to wait a year or two.  The woman who called said they were thinking about not having it this year, and if they do, they may not have it next year.  They may also move on to other activities and stop doing the tour.

They have now decided it is on, and going to be the first Saturday of June.  I am going to post some photos of flowers from the first couple of weeks of June, 2013, that may be blooming for the tour, and then provide a link to the blog so people can find the names of the plants, in case I don't get them all labeled.  I also want to do some future posts with photos of the plants that won't be in bloom yet, so people can see when they bloomed, and what they looked like last year.  I am also going to put in a link to our Nebraska Statewide Arboretum's plant sale.

Purple poppy mallow is a reliable plant that forms a ground cover from the main stem.  I haven't had any send roots down from the stems of the plants.

I am so pleased that nature planted this common milkweed in our parking strip a number of years ago.

I had this Phlox divaricata in the garden where we lived over 13 years ago.  I brought some here in a wash tub, and they have transplanted well.  The original plants are competing well with the violets that keep volunteering in their tub.  I try to put baskets and such around them to protect them from the rabbits.

I just planted these Coreopsis lanceolatas last spring, and they grew very well.  Many of the native plants don't grow much the first year.

I have a number of perennial geraniums.  When I planted these, I don't think I knew there was a native kind.  Still, they seem to attract pollinators, and do well next to the curb.  I can't remember the names of them.

I like to have lavender in the flower beds.

I just planted a few birds foot violets last spring, and was pleased that they bloomed.

Love in a mist is an old fashioned annual native to Europe.  It reseeds, and has pretty seed pods.

Orange hawkweed is native to areas near us, but not to Nebraska.  It spreads a bit, but has not been aggressive here.

Fleabane is native to pretty much the whole U.S.  There are different species, though.

I love seeing critters, such as Daddy long legs on the plants.

Many plants will not be their full size June 7, but I hope the season is at least as far along as it was last year.

I didn't realize until checking just now, that Costmary is native to parts of the U.S., including Kansas and Missouri.  The pollinators like it.  After the first flush of blooms, it gets leggy, so I cut it back to the base, and put the cuttings on the compost pile.  It is excellent for the health of the compost pile, because it helps things decompose.

I have several kinds of Amsonia.  This may be tabernaemontana.  I first saw the lovely blue blooms after walking into one of my sister-in-law's alley.  It was in a neighbor's yard, and just a matter of time until I found out what it was, and got some to plant here.  I just wish the bloom time was longer.

A friend of mine shared some Virginia waterleaf with me a few years ago.  There are several species of this plant, and at least some are native to the U.S.  I deadhead it because I don't have room for it to spread.  It looks like I missed some last year.  I'm not sure what was eating the leaves, but part of the reason I garden is so that insects have some food.  In turn, the birds and carnivorous insects have food to eat.

I have shown the lovely Amsonia hubrichtii very frequently on the blog.  It is one of my favorite plants, and is native to the U.S., but not Nebraska.  (I have been getting my information on what's native from the USDA plants database.)

I believe this is Amsonia illustris, native to Kansas and Missouri.

I can't remember what kind of Penstemon this is, and I'm not sure if it is a native one, but think it may be.  The blue blooms are Pincushion flowers.

Here is another view of the side yard.  I didn't get a close up photo of the native Columbines, the orange flowers near the bed frame.

Here is a view of the west front yard.  I love the yellow cheer the early blooming Golden Alexanders provide.    They are also hosts for swallowtail butterflies.

Gail, from Clay and Limestone speaks lovingly of Phlox pilosa, calling it PPPP, " practically perfectly pink phlox".  Rabbits like it, too, so I had a basket over this and the others I have in the garden before they bloomed.  I don't remember if they got eaten later in the season, or whether I covered them again.  That's Golden alexander next to the phlox.

There are quite a few species of Pussytoes, which are native to most of the U.S.  This is a lovely groundcover that is very easy to divide and share with friends.  The blooms are not easy to photograph, but they are prettier "in person".

Pasque flowers are one of the first to bloom in the spring, and are quite lovely, with the bonus of fluffy seedheads.  Just be careful to find the ones that are native.  I think this is a cultivar I got a hold of.

I've had this clump of native Echinaceas, I'm pretty sure, pallida, for a number of years.  They haven't grown enough for me to divide, but I sure enjoy them, as do the pollinators.

This Rose mock vervain, a native, was given to me by a friend who dug it from her acreage, where it was growing on its own.  It likes to spread, too, but has not been overly aggressive.

I've enjoyed the Echinacea paradoxa in the front yard next to the sidewalk.  It is native in a few states south of us.

I seem to have a couple kinds of Meadow-rue, and I'm pleased they are native to our area.  I love how tall they have gotten the last few years.

I love it when the grandsons, sons of our son and daughter-in-law want to be out in the yard.  I am going to have to define the path and make it safe for people to walk on.  It will help that the Rudbeckia maxima, native a couple states south of us will not be its full size yet.

One of the reasons I haven't been visiting blogs or posting is because our daughter is expecting a girl the end of June.  She is going to be a single mom, so our daughter-in-law and I have been rounding up some fun clothes and supplies for her from Facebook groups.  After her maternity leave, I will watch the baby full time, until around October,  when she is at least 12 weeks old, when we will find someone to watch her half days.  I will pick her up after about 4 hours, and we will have her until 9:15ish p.m.  I will still have mornings to garden, which I'm more than ready to get back to when spring gets here.

I am seeing some photos on Facebook indicating spring is here for some of you.  I look forward to seeing it reach more and more of you, as it finds its way here!  Take care, and I hope you are healthy.  Oh, and if you are a local person reading this from the address I provided, I'm glad you are here!

Brr! Snow and Cold!

It has been too cold for me to be out taking photos, but it snowed yesterday, so toward the end of the day, I decided to take some from the front door, wondering how my new camera would do in low light.

I must have taken this through the window.

I didn't hear how much snow we got, but it came down a bit today.  The highs have been in the single digits, but tomorrow, we could get into the 30s.  By Monday, we are to be back down into the single digits, maybe the coldest day of winter so far.

I experimented with using the zoom, and the flash.  I don't think the flash on my other camera worked outside.

I love the different heights and shapes of the plants.  I've mentioned keeping them over the winter to provide shelter to insects, and seeds for the birds.  Plus, while I get excited seeing bare dirt, the plants look much better to me.

Here are the lovely Illinois bundleflower seed heads looking nice in their snow hats.  The railing looks to have less than an inch of snow.

It sounds like the snow and cold is pretty widespread.  Wherever you are, I hope you are able to be safe and warm.  I'm noticing the days getting longer.  Spring, I hope you come early!