The fenced garden sits just north of the mulch pile. In the second picture, you can see our mountain of mulch. We usually don’t have that much, but had a few trees removed last year and this wonderful pile is the result of that work.

This clump of ‘May Night’ salvia sits just outside the gate to the fenced garden. And that’s a clump of lemon balm next to it. We’ll be pulling that out soon. It pops up all over the place. Looks beautiful in early spring, but quickly grows to gargantuan proportions. It would smother the salvia and anything else in its way.

This is blood sorrel. It’s in the fenced garden, along the path. I don’t care for the name, but it is a beautiful plant. And it’s edible. Can be used in salads.

This mini geranium is in the center of the fenced garden. It’s in danger of being swallowed alive by the gold sedum. I am trying to decide where to move it. Somewhere it can be appreciated and not swamped by something larger. The entire plant is about four inches across.

The ceramic bunnies have been in the center of the fenced garden for five or six years. Before you know it, the sedum will cover the baby bunny.

The columbine is in full bloom right now. The tree that used to shade this bed was removed, so we may have to move these plants this year.

Pretty pink columbine near the kitchen door.

And this old fashioned columbine was a gift from my friend Margaret. Thank you, Margaret!

The rain we’ve had the past several days has knocked a lot of the dogwood blossoms off, but the rain was good for the yard, not to mention the farmers’ fields. And just look at all those iris buds!

Hostas provide a beautiful accent in the garden. Their leaves make quite a statement. Here are ‘Samurai’ and ‘Waving Wuffles’ near the carport behind the house.

‘Pineapple Upside Down Cake’ is a beautiful yellow in the spring that turns green later in the season.

‘Squash Casserole’ was sheltered by an apple tree last year. But we had so much rain last spring that trees actually lost their grip and fell over, and the apple tree was one of those. So this beautiful (and fast growing!) hosta and its ‘Valentine Lace’ and ‘Lake Veronica’ neighbors will have to be moved soon. Not sure just yet where they are going to end up. ‘Squash Casserole’ seems to tolerate some sun, so we’ll keep that in mind as we ponder its future home.

This is ‘Northern Exposure.’ I’m partial to the hostas with variegated leaves.

Star of Bethlehem grows from a bulb and can overtake a garden bed. We dig them out as we come across them just to keep up with them, but are always happy to see them pop up in the grass and here and there in a flower bed. They make a pretty show. The bulb is poisonous, though, so keep that in mind if you plant them.

Star of Bethlehem is a spring flower. The leaves come up first, in what my family always called “Easter grass.” It makes clumps of beautiful green, even before the lawn grass greens in the spring. The perfect resting place for an Easter egg. After it flowers, the leaves quickly die back and the plant goes dormant until next spring.

A couple more shots and I’ll let you go…

I think I’ll head outside. It’s a shade cool, but I want to see if any new irises have opened. ~~Rhonda

Siberian Iris ‘Illini Charm’

This is an old fashioned iris that we do not know the name of.

We brought this iris from our previous home. Bought it in a collection of six, years ago. Probably the first irises I ever bought. But I no longer know the name.

‘Mary Frances’ is a beautiful bluish tall bearded iris.

Another unknown.

This early brown iris was in the yard when we moved here. Unfortunately, it was planted against a brick wall of the same color. We’ve moved it around the yard, where it shows up much better.

‘Raspberry Blush’ opened April 26.

This very early old fashioned iris opened April 19 and is still blooming strongly. We brought this iris from DH’s family farm, where it has bloomed every spring for many years.

‘Baby Blessed’ is one of my favorite dwarf irises. It blooms prolifically in the spring, then blooms off and on all summer and into the fall, providing it has plenty of moisture.

Other irises have already finished blooming.

Tiny little ‘What Again.’

And the even tinier extra early purple iris. It bloomed March 30. This iris came from DH’s family farm. It stands 3-4″ tall.

This picture of ‘Irish Chant,’ a lovely dwarf iris, was taken last year. It bloomed this year while I was too sick to go out. The one picture DH took of it, wasn’t a great shot, so I’ll recycle this one.

There will be new irises every day for a while. This is my favorite season in the garden. The entire yard will smell heavenly when they are blooming at the peak of the season! ~~Rhonda

The hostas are filling out well, and the columbine and Spanish bluebells are in full swing.

This little flower bed sits just outside the kitchen door. We have three birdbaths in the yard, but this is my favorite one.

The birds use this birdbath, but not as often as the cats do. They find it a convenient watering hole.

~~Rhonda

DH spread a lot of mulch. We are grateful to our friend Paul who gives us shredded mulch via his tree trimming service.

Not sure why I didn’t take many pictures yesterday. Busy with other things, I guess. But I did get this one of the clematis ‘Nelly Moser’ that climbs the hydrangea by the front steps. She is just beginning to bloom. The hydrangea has yet to leaf out completely.

We have had 15 different iris varieties in bloom so far this season. Lots more getting ready to bloom and there will be pics of those in the near future.

~~Rhonda

The Spanish bluebells were in the yard when we bought this house in 1994.

There are a lot of columbine in the yard. They spread beautifully. Not aggressively. They just pleasantly fill space.

I rode the mower pulling the wagon, and DH trimmed the redbud trees. Something we do each spring to keep the way clear for mowing. It’s not much fun trying to mow under them. We took five or six loads of branches to the burn pile.

The bridal wreath spirea is a fountain of white. A picture of our home, taken in 1956, shows a bridal wreath spirea near the east porch. I like having some in the yard again.

There’s a pretty spot under the apple tree that looks particularly inviting.

Iris buds are beginning to pop up all over the yard. We’ll soon have other colors than the early purple and the little yellow ones blooming.

It was nice to get outside after being so sick. Still coughing but definitely better than I was.

~~Rhonda

But before we get there, there is still a lot to see. The dogwoods are at their peak right now.

Bluebells are continuing to bloom. These look so pretty against the bright chartreuse of the hosta ‘Janice.’

The lilacs are perfect right now. And they smell SO good!

The Bridal Wreath spirea is about to burst. Soon the long branches will be white with little bouquets of flowers.

“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” ~Ruth Stout

~~Rhonda

Anyhoo, I took some yard pics from the car as I left. So here are a few of the yard in all its raggy glory. From the carport, I got a good look at the peony border. It has shot way up in the past week or so.

The grass is full of dandelions and needs a haircut. I hope I’ll feel well enough tomorrow to get out and do the mowing.

There is honesty (money) plant coming up all over the yard. It’s a great filler for large spaces and we let it reseed itself where ever it likes. It’s easy to pull out unwanted plants. We’ve even taken pulled up plants after the seed pods have set and thrown them out into the woods where they’ve started coming up here and there, adding that pretty purple color.

In the front yard, the bird bath bed is showing great color with the ‘Thalia’ daffodils, the candytuft, and the purple and yellow irises that are blooming.

The ‘Thalia’ daffodils are some of our later ones. They are a lovely creamy white and bloom with two blossoms to each stem.

I love the wild Sweet William (Phlox divaricata) in our yard. We brought plants to our previous home from the woods that belonged to DH’s aunt years ago. When we moved, we brought some of those plants to this house, where they have reseeded themselves here and there. This patch is particularly pretty under the dogwood tree.

The dogwood is from your woods, Laurie. Thanks!!

Isn’t the wild phlox gorgeous?

Ah, spring! ~~Rhonda

‘Baby Blessed’ is a dwarf bearded iris, about 10″ tall. An early bloomer with yellow standards, yellow falls, and white beards. It is one of our best rebloomers, blooming off and on in our yard through the summer and fall.

‘Irish Chant’ is one of my favorite dwarf irises. It isn’t a rebloomer, but does multiply quickly. This blossom is just opening. I hope to have a better picture in a day or two.

The iris season is my favorite part of spring…as much as I like every part of this time of year.

~~Rhonda

I checked the veggie garden. The radishes are getting bigger.

I broadcast the lettuce seed and it’s coming up thick. Will have to do some thinning before too long.

The first flush of dandelions has gone to seed.

From the veggie garden, the large Southern Oak looks beautiful.

Bunches of grape hyacinth are blooming all over the yard. Each year, they spread a little more.

The daffodils under the Southern Oak are giving way to the purple blossoms of the honesty plant.

The redbud trees are still in full bloom. I was afraid we’d missed the peak of the season while we were gone, but not so. I like the way the flowers cluster along even the limbs of a redbud tree.

The blossoms on the dogwood north of the fenced garden have turned a creamy white.

Judd viburnum…there’s no describing the heavenly scent.

In the fenced garden, the dwarf Iris ‘What Again’ is blooming. This little iris is about 8″ tall.

DH spent some time weeding and putting down mulch.

Layers of newspapers go down first, then mulch is spread on top the paper. The paper provides an extra barrier to weeds and eventually decomposes into the flower bed.

Did I tell you? I love spring!

~~Rhonda

~~Rhonda