Impatiently waiting...

I would never say that patience is my best quality, in fact it's something I wish I had more of.  I know I can't hurry spring along, that the winter season has it's purpose, but am I ever having a hard time trying to be patient.  I always take full advantage of dry and or sunny days during the winter and head out to the garden if I have free time on those days.  I can always find something to do out there, and enjoy getting my "therapy" while I'm working.  On the days that it's not so nice I look at seed catalogs, online nurseries and look out the window thinking about changes I'd like to make.  Over the past few weeks I've ordered some seeds, placed a small plant order from an online nursery and ordered a couple of roses online as well.  I don't go crazy on these orders because one, I have a budget and two I like to be able to do plant shopping later in the year at nurseries too.  I also have a fairly small yard and there's only so much space.  Just like I recently cleaned out closets, getting rid of unused toys, clothes and other things that just take up prized space in our small home, I'm doing the same thing outside. 

Here are a few things I've been working on to help pass the winter:

The pond is probably the best looking part of the yard, front or back, right now.  But the ground has settled quite a bit on the right side and I decided this would be a good time to build up a small bed along the side.  You can see the back side of the edgers here, I still need to add quite a bit of soil.  Then those poor Primroses might actually get planted.  To the right of the Heuchera above I was finally able to get a very stubborn plant out that had seeded itself there a few years ago.  I think I will add another Geranium 'Rozanne' there.

Next to that new bed area, I pulled out some very woody and overgrown Heucheras.  These had been here many years and were long past looking good.  Now I have made room for all sorts of new plants!

I cut back all the Hellebores in this corner and under the Sword fern I found a nice big rock that had been completely covered.  Yes, that's a gnome in my garden and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

Another thing I did was to hang this owl bell, it cost all of $5!  I wish we'd see some real owls here.

I also scour the yard on a regular basis looking for signs of spring.  In this entry bed there is lots of Muscari foliage, and tulips and crocus are just poking through.

As I walked toward the back gate I spotted the tiniest sign of life, a teensy Snowdrop!  I planted these the fall before last and barely had any come up so seeing this one tiny guy made me especially happy.

I will keep trying to be patient, but it's hard!

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.