The pond in March.

There's been so much time spent in the front garden lately that I've been making it a point to take regular walks around the backyard to see what's happening back there.  The pond is looking good but the string algae is at the point where I need to be scooping it out more regularly.  This is normal for my pond in late winter/early spring.  Once it's a bit warmer that type of algae slows way down.  The Littlest Gardener and I were at the pet store looking at fish yesterday, they had a good selection of pond fish (inexpensive koi, sarassas, comets) but I'm going to wait at least another month until the pond gets a chance to get the good bacteria growing in the filter again.  I use a powder that is all natural enzymes that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria.  It also contains barley which helps inhibit the growth of algae.

 The starts of tulips, Dutch iris and other bulbs are starting to show around the pond.  I notice far fewer iris reticulata blooming this year.  The Clematis that grows up the birdhouse post, trellis and shepherd's hook all have lots of new growth.  In the middle of the pond the bright green is the string algae.  Scooping it is on my to do list this weekend.

 The small planter around the waterfall was where I planted some small daylilies, I can't wait to see how they look this year since they were new last summer.

 White Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) are usually behind the pink ones, this year they are much further ahead.

 I planted fritillaria last year and am so excited to see these flowers.

 Daffodils are really taking their time opening, but they are getting close.

 Another flower I'm excited to see are the Gregii tulips I planted last fall.  I love the speckled foliage.

The weather is looking promising for the weekend, I hope we really do get some sun.  Hopefully we'll do some plant shopping for the front yard and maybe get some Sweet Pea and poppy seeds planted out front.  We finally had a couple of dry days, although they were cold and mostly overcast, at least the ground had a chance to dry a bit.  I'm beginning to think I lost quite a few plants this winter.  So far it looks like a David Austin rose, a hydrangea, a hellebore are probably dead and there are several other plants that are still missing. 

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.