Christmas Notebook

If you’ve read previous posts, you know spring is my favorite time of year in the garden. It’s lush and colorful and full of “new” everywhere you look. Here are some pictures from our spring garden.

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

The weather has been rainy today, but it’s a slow, off and on, gentle, spring rain. Looking out the kitchen door into the back yard, things look wet, but fresh and new. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I am amazed by all the green visible through the windows. There are four windows over the south counter and the door on the south, too, and the view is completely full of new spring green, now that the big oak has leafed out.

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