Day of digging.

Another day of mild weather meant I could do some work in the yard.  I finally decided that there were a few plants that were definitely dead.  No use waiting any longer to get rid of them.  It was a little bit exciting digging them out, because with each pry of the shovel I thought of what I could put in their place.

My star jasmine that had once had such shiny green leaves and fragrant flowers just couldn't survive the winter we had.  It had struggled through a couple of other cold winters, but just wasn't going to pull through this time.  The jasmine had grown in a wood planter near our garage.  I dreamed of a small clematis to climb up the trellis as I dug it out.

Then I sadly pulled up my Abelia 'Confetti'.  I never got to enjoy it's white flowers.  I don't know what will go in it's place.  It was supposed to be my winter interest because according to the tag is was semi-evergreen.  It wasn't very interesting as a dried stick.

The littlest gardener and I made our way into the backyard where I started digging up the Cape Fuchsias.  They grew alongside the deck.  This was a fairly big job, since the plant sends up shoots from the roots.  It had started to send shoots up through the deck last summer.

They had been there for years.  The hummingbirds loved the flowers.  I on the other hand never really liked the orangey red flowers.  So, in a way it was an excuse to start over with something I like better.

We found lots of earthworms while we dug.  I also found a hosta I had forgotten about.  I transplanted a heucherella, a pulmonaria seedling and a white Bleeding Heart that was a volunteer from a couple of years ago.  I'm always surprised at how many volunteers I can find.  

Then I planted my new pulmonaria.  I had stopped by the nursery with my Mom earlier in the day and found this on clearance.  It was a little dry, but definitely not dead.  It has the prettiest light pink flowers.  Now I wish I would've picked up the other pulmonaria they had.  70 percent off because they forgot to water it, not bad!

I think I will add 2 hardy fuchsias here as well.  I know the hummingbirds will love them like they love the others in my yard.  

My littlest gardener assisted me in watering in our new transplants.  She had an interesting method of scooping up water with the orange bucket,

 then pouring it into the watering can.  I know she had a great time because she was absolutely soaked by the time we were done.  We had so much fun we decided to skip nap time!

Nothing like doing a little digging to make it feel like spring is almost here!