The plants don't mind the snow.

This has been a rather strange end of winter.  It seems to have gotten more and more winter like now that spring is almost here.  I think we've had more snow in the last week or so than we've had for the whole winter.  But, after many, many days of gloomy rain I really enjoyed seeing the snow.  At least it's pretty to look at and it wasn't enough to cause any problems getting around.  Today as I walked around the yard I noticed that the snow doesn't seem to be slowing any of the plants down, if anything most have really taken off growing.

 Helleobore Winter Jewels 'Cherry Blossom' has settled in really well and has lots of flowers.

 The fish were swimming around and enjoying the sun.  Hard to believe that a few hours before there was snow on the ground!

 Bulbs are popping up everywhere.  Tete-a-tetes are beginning to bloom and the squirrels haven't found these Crocuses yet.  That ball of roots is a Hosta looking for a new home.  It's even started growing!

 Spring is prime time in most of the backyard.  Things are really waking up.

 Ribes sanguineum flowerbuds are so close to opening.

 Two falls ago I planted 3 Fritillaria bulbs.  I was excited to see how many are coming up this year.

 Hellebore 'Mardi Gras Double' surrounded by wood sorrel and a Western Sword Fern.

 I found Epimedium 'Elfin Pink' blooming already!

 The path garden lit up by the sun.

And a walk out to the front yard reminds you that it did really snow last night.  But even out there the plants seem happy and ready for spring.

The weather this winter reminds me of the one we had a few years ago which was followed by a record breaking hot summer.  Either way, the plants don't seem bothered by it and really it is so pretty it's hard complain when it's followed by blue skies and sun.

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

Another "Spring" day.

We've been enjoying the most beautiful weather here lately.  It's been at least in the upper 50's and even made it up and over 60 degrees a couple of times over the last 4 or 5 days.  Of course that meant spending lots of times outside.  I've had a chance to start a project I thought I wouldn't get to until March and am now sore from all the work I've gotten done.  I forgot how achy I get the first couple of times after really getting down and doing work.  Lifting, carrying and digging things outside after not doing much for a few months is tough on my body, but it does help me feel less guilty when my lunch ends up being Doritos or a Snickers bar.

On the far side of the pond the ground had really gotten low.  This whole part of our backyard is on a gentle slope and after months and years of rain the ground starts to wash away.  It made planting anything there difficult because it was lower than the pond edge.

I moved in a few plants from other parts of the garden and a few Primroses and Violas for some instant gratification.

I was walking around my favorite nursery trying to decide how to spend the points I'd earned over the last year and spotted this Hellebore.  It hadn't even been unloaded yet but I knew that's what I wanted to use my points on.  It is Hellebore Winter Jewels 'Cherry Blossom'.  It's not quite all the way opened but I couldn't wait any longer to post a picture.  I added it to the new bed by the pond.

A surprise Snowdrop by the pond.  Did I plant that?  I don't remember doing it.  I love these types of surprises.

I can't wait to see these Crocuses, that I planted last fall, all the way open.  They seemed to have grown overnight!

Crossing my fingers that this will be the year the variegated Rhododendron blooms.  This is it's third year and no blooms so far.  It's a good thing I like it for it's foliage or I'm not sure I would be patient for much longer.

Ribes sanguineum 'King Edward VII' is really putting on new growth.  If you want a flowering currant that grows quickly, this is the one to plant.  It has caught up to my other Pink Flowering Currant in just 2 years.

I found the first Hellebore blooming today!  This was a seedling from a larger plant.  The rest aren't much further away from blooming.

My husband took a couple of days off (a very rare thing) and how lucky that it was at the same time as the nice weather.  We ended up getting compost to mix in the front raise beds.  It looks and smells so good out there.  I LOVE the smell of fresh compost.  Now all I need to do is get some seeds started.

From the looks of the forecast this is probably the last day of our "fake spring" and we'll be going back to our usual cooler and wet weather, but I can always hope for just one more day.

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

April Bloom Day and Fertilizer Friday.

I wanted to first say thank you to everyone that left comments on my last post about our rabbit Cookie.  So many of you left thoughtful messages and we all really appreciate them.  Sweet Pea is doing better and we hope to start working on the little memorial garden this weekend.
I also realized that since it's the 15th of the month and a Friday that I can join in with both Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Fertilizer Friday.  The garden is still behind by quite a bit, but I'm beginning to notice a lot of deciduous shrubs and trees starting to get their leaves.  The weather has still been very cool and wet, but at least there have been some sun breaks here and there and the flowers seem to appreciate it.

When the sun is out all of the tulips open up wide, on the cooler days they close back up.  These are the Greigii tulips I found at the grocery store last year.  They have stayed short but their bright color makes up for their lack of height.

The only daffodil that came back from the year before, all the rest just had foliage.

Old-fashioned Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) even closer to blooming.

The entry garden has tulips, hellebores and muscari blooming.  The Jacob's Ladder has taken off growing and has flowerbuds.  There are Bleeding Hearts coming up everywhere.  This bed had a Japanese Maple in the center of it that died last summer.  Once it dries out some I plan to do a lot of rearranging since many of the plants toward the front won't have the shade from the tree anymore.

In the shed garden hellebores, daffodils, primroses, tulips and Flowering Currant 'King Edward VII'.

I started some roses from seed this year and this Rose (Rosa chinensis) 'Angel Wings' has it's first bloom.  It even has a very light fragrance.  The flower is less than an inch across.

To see what else is blooming today visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday.

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

The shed garden in March.

Somehow we lucked out yet again with another nice day.  It was supposed to rain both yesterday and today, instead we had sun and mild temperatures.  The only rain that fell was during the night.  The Littlest Gardener and I have spent as much time as possible outside soaking in the Vitamin D.  She was busy leaving supplies out for the garden fairies.  I guess they can never have too many small sticks, leaves and pieces of gravel.  Now that she's four and a half she's really fun to have outside with me, her imagination has just taken off.  She routinely looks for signs of fairies in the backyard.  We know they're out there somewhere, but she tells me they are afraid of people.
Last year Sweet Pea and I started what we now call the shed garden.  It had been part of the side yard where we kept yard waste cans and whatever yard junk that had no other place to go.  Since removing the old metal shed and adding a new one last spring this whole area has taken on a whole new look.

It's hard to imagine that this time last year this was all gravel and leftover piles of bricks, plant pots and other junk.  I'm really happy with how it looks just one year later.

Ribes sanguineum 'King Edward VII' was planted in the shed garden last summer.  It has already grown so much and is loaded with blooms.  Everything in the shed garden has to compete with our neighbors huge Cedar trees roots on the other side of the fence.

Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls' has been in my garden for years, but I moved it to the shed garden last year.  I'm surprised it's already got blooms on it.  (Tina, is yours at about the same stage?)

Some of the tulips I planted last year are loving the sun.  I think things grew overnight, these buds were not this far up last time I looked.

Lewisia that I found at the fruit market last year already has buds.  I read that these can be difficult plants, but it loves it here.  I hope they have more this spring since they were such a great price compared to what I just saw them for at a nursery.

I'm not sure if the Dogwood will bloom this year, but at least there are leaf buds.  This one has never bloomed well.  I love how a row of Foxgloves planted themselves along the fence behind the tree.

This is taken looking out from the shed.  There is still some nice blank planting space left.

To see what this area looked like last year click here.  It's so fun taking an unused and forgotten part of your yard and turning it into a new garden space.  Especially if you have a small yard like we do, the whole yard becomes valuable garden real estate.

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

Looking for some warmer weather...

 I know it's still winter, but I'm sure ready to see a little sign of spring from our weather.  It has been so cold lately.  We're used to the rain (although I'm tired of it right now), but it's the cold that's really getting old to me.  Our average high for this time of year is 51 degrees, we're barely getting above 40 right now.  I don't mind getting a little wet while I garden, but wet and cold is just no fun.  Between rain showers I decided to take a look around the garden and see how everything was looking since it snowed.  We spent so much time working in the front yard that I've hardly noticed anything else.
I found that the plants are trying to grow.  I think it'll take a couple of warm days and then there will be lots of new growth.  Peonies are sending up their bright red new growth, Clematises are all starting to leaf out and the buds on the pear trees are fattening up.

 Corsican Hellebore (Helleborus argutifolius) is just beginning to bloom.  It has flopped all over the ground it's gotten so big.

 I love how the leaves on this Saxifrage 'London Pride' look all wet.  This was given to me last year by Linda.

 Ribes sanguineum 'Kind Edward VII' has it's first flower bud showing!  This one was new to my garden last spring.  Last year at this time my other Ribes was already blooming.

 A few of the Snowdrops I planted last fall are blooming.  I expected them to be small, but are they really this teeny tiny?  From the ground to the top it's about 3 inches high.

 I moved Hellebore 'Red Lady' out front by a Hydrangea 'Preziosa' that I just moved during our front yard make over.  'Preziosa' still has leaf buds growing so I think it survived the move, now I hope it'll bloom.

 Tete-a-Tete Daffodils are so close to blooming, last year at this time they were in full bloom.

 The Crocus are closed up tight from the cold.

 And this pile in the shed keeps growing and growing just waiting to get planted.

 The garden is definitely behind from last year.  At this time last year I had Winter Hazel, Camellias,  the cherry tree, Muscari, Bleeding Hearts and several other plants blooming on March 1st.  I know they are getting close, they just need a little warmer weather, just like me!
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.