It's only just begun...

 What a week it was around here last week.  It was very full of field trips (one for each girl on the same day and I drove on both!), a school choir concert, sports and ballet and my husband's surgery.  I knew there would be no time outside during that week and since the weather wasn't that great I didn't miss much.  My husband did amazingly well with his surgery and while he rested and recuperated over the weekend I played out in the sunny yard.  Saturday I spend working in the front yard and Sunday was spent around the pond.

 I scooped and scooped out the pond, cleaned the filter, trimmed the plants and cleaned off the waterfall.  It looks so much better.  Unfortunately this is string algae's favorite time of year and it has just taken off.  I spend much of the spring scooping it out of the pond.  I just love that our neighbors Forsythia is right where we can enjoy it.  The gold Mock Orange's leaves and daffodils pop with it in the background.

 Marsh marigold has been blooming for weeks, but now that the pot has been cleaned up the flowers can actually be seen.

 I put the pond floats back in.  The one in the middle is new this year, I bought it at the Flower and Garden show.

 This may not look like much now, but I spent a long time getting the purple oxalis up from next to the edgers.  I also cut the dead branches off the Daphne 'Summer Ice' and transplanted an offshoot from it.  It isn't variegated but otherwise looks the same.  Those Violas have been blooming almost all winter.

 Cleaned up the edges here too.  I love how the shed garden looks in spring, lots more to come here too.

 You can see this Ribes sanguineum 'Kind Edward VII' in the previous picture to the right.  This one has grown so quickly.

 Okay, so I lied when I said I got nothing down outside last week.  I added a long shelf in the shed and made a shorter one on top of the two clay pots.  I've been having fun "decorating" and organizing.  One day I'd love to paint it white inside.

 A view out of the shed.

 The path garden is starting to fill in.  I'd like to focus on this area this year.  I'm trying to convince my husband to remove the deck, so far he has agreed to taking off the far half.  I would prefer a stone patio and no deck at all.  But I guess he should have some say in how our garden looks.

 At the end of last summer I pulled up a currant bush that looked horrible and moved the Winter Hazel and Bleeding Heart to new places here.  I was wondering how the Winter Hazel would do this spring and it seems to be blooming better than it ever has.

 Winter Hazel (Corylopsis) 'Buttercup' has the most delicate butter yellow flowers.

 The Littlest Gardener is thrilled to see Grape Hyacinths popping up.  This is one flower I allow her to pick all she wants.  We seem to have them coming up everywhere and they look so cute in spring bouquets.

 One of the few Daffodils that returned.  Other than Tete-a-tetes I give up on Daffodils.  They either send up only foliage or the squirrels take them.

So, the spring flower show has begun along with a little bit of warmer temperatures.  I'm really excited to see the changes that seem to happen overnight this time of year.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

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.

Last days of summer.

Over the weekend we had our first fall "system" move through.  This brought much cooler weather, lots of rain and wind.  The rain was appreciated by the garden, but the first few windy days are not appreciated by me.  They bring down all the dead pine needles from the Ponderosa Pine.  It takes many, many days to get them cleaned.  Just when they are mostly swept and raked up, another wind comes through.  Our roof looks as though we have a thatched roof.  Pine needles are my very least favorite thing about the end of summer.  But, once they are sort of cleaned (until the yard waste bin is packed full of them) and untangled from everything, the garden looks good again.

 Sunflowers tall and short are blooming in the front garden.

 Yes, that's a RED tomato!  I started these 'Tigerella' tomatoes last year and none turned red.  I'm so glad that at least one is turning this year.  In a few days my in-laws will be visiting from California, hopefully we'll be eating tomatoes from the garden while they are here.

 We spent a long time yesterday cleaning out the front raised reds, pulling out lettuce and greens that were done and planting more seedlings.  We've got lots of chard, kale, beets and carrots starting.  I sowed lettuce and radishes yesterday.  I still consider this an experimental year, so we'll see how well things do started now.  I do know for sure we need to organize our plantings much better next year, also that we'll plant way fewer tomatoes since they took up a lot of space and haven't produced much.

Oh, and I found what the strange Sunflower is called.  It's 'Sunspot' and supposed to get 18" - 24" tall according to the packet.

 This has got to be the prettiest lettuce I've ever grown.  'Mottistone' has been doing great, no signs of bolting, and I found that the fairies like it too.

 The other raised bed seems to have more warm season veggies growing.  Pattypan, Buternut and Zucchini are all still growing.

 I showed the start of the changes of the driveway bed in a previous post.  I really like how it's turning out.

 From a different angle you can see the new Nandina 'Gulf Stream' on the left and Osmanthus 'Goshiki' on the right.  These two are both evergreen.

 Love the seed heads on this Clematis.

 The shed garden still looks pretty good for this late in the summer.  I've been noticing how much red/burgundy colored foliage  I've been adding in both the front and backyard.

 Fuchsia magellanica is still doing great by the pond.

 One plant I'm very happy with this year is the Bugbane or Actaea.  I've had it in several places and it seems it finally likes it here.  It's close to 5 feet tall and is covered in the best smelling flowers.  The honeybees were all over it.

We are looking forward to my husband's parents coming for a visit.  It looks as if summer is returning for this week and we should be able to enjoy lots of time outside.  Not too long ago I replanted both Dill and Basil for my father-in-law to use when he hopefully makes us Spanakopita.  In March they were here and saw the very beginnings of the garden, and he also helped my husband build the front arbor.  I'm excited for them to see how it all looks now.

 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.

A good weekend!

Finally dry weather and a free weekend coincided.  This weekend we got to enjoy our front garden after weeks and weeks of hard manual labor out there.  We had dry weather and we did see some sun but it stayed mostly in the low 50's.  We had fun plant shopping and planting when we got home Saturday.  Sunday my girls and I went to a plant sale where we found some more plants.  The Littlest Gardener and I planted Sugar Snap bush peas in the new raised bed, I planted Oriental lilies and gladiolas by the picket fence - only one bag of Dahlias left to plant now!  So fun to be digging small holes rather than shoveling loads of soil, gravel, etc...

 I already love how this little area is going to look.  I planted some Corsican Mint to grow around the stepping stones here.  It makes me hungry every time I smell it.  The purple flowered plant is an Erysimum or Wallflower 'Bowles Mauve',  I just love how long this plant blooms for.  I've also planted Agastache and a Lavatera to fill in the corner.  Lavatera is a favorite of my husband's and I thought the least I could do is let him help choose some of what will grow here since he did the majority of the hard work, usually he doesn't really mind what I plant.  Along the front fence (inside) I planted several different perennials that I hope will grow up through both sides of the fence.

 Just a few dwarf boxwoods for some evergreen color, I don't want anything that gets big because I plan to have lots of other flowers and grasses mixed in here.

 While I was out I noticed that the Muscari is finally starting to get flowers.  The Littlest Gardener has been asking when the Grape Hyacinths will be ready to pick.  We have so many growing that it is one flower I don't mind how many she picks.

 Crocus enjoyed some sun.

 Daffodils blooming in the shed garden.  Not too far from this area I planted more Tiger lilies.  They seem to do really well back here in the sun and close to Cedar trees.

 My new plants from the plant sale on Sunday.  I found Epimedium, Trillium, Drumstick Primula, another type of Primula, Tulipa turkestanica, Papaver rupifragum and another that I can't remember the name of.

 Epimedium 'Elfin Pink' has the sweetest tiny pink flowers.

While I was at the plant sale I got to meet Alison of Bonney Lassie and her husband.  It was a lot of fun to talk with Alison in person.  It's funny how much we knew about each other, not ever having met or talked in person before.  I didn't get to stay long as the Littlest Gardener was cold and done with plant shopping.  Look at the cute birds that Alison gave me, so nice of her.  I can't wait to see what she bought since she was just getting started shopping as we were finished.

This time of year I seem to have an ever growing chore list of what needs to be done outside.  For this week I need to finish pruning Clematises, sow more seeds both inside and outside, pot up some of my indoor seedlings and get some potatoes planted.  One thing not on our list this year - grass mowing.  Half our town was out mowing this weekend and happily for us we weren't one of them.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Fertilizer Friday - 16 days until spring!

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to join in on Fertilizer Friday, but I made sure I had time to take pictures yesterday between rain and hail showers.  Every so often the sun would pop out and then shortly after it would pour rain again.  In between showers I ran outside to fill the hummingbird feeders with fresh sugar water.  This was made a bit tricky by Gracie, our dog, trying to to drink it every time I set the container of it down.  I ended up balancing on a step stool half sinking in the soggy dirt reaching for the feeders with one hand and holding the sugar water in the other.  As much as I love our dog, she definitely makes simple jobs much more difficult when she's around.  But, it was worth the circus act because I was greeted with a beautiful male Anna's hummingbird drinking from the feeder this morning.  I've only been seeing females lately, so maybe his arrival means they are thinking about nesting soon.

First thing I did outside was check the winter sowing.  I've now got Verbascum, Hollyhock, Lupine, Foxglove, Flax, Canterbury Bells and Poppy 'Lauren's Grape' germinating.

This Pulmonaria has been way ahead of the rest so far, the others have lots of buds now though.

Hellebores under the Cedar tree.

Pansies in the window boxes.

The shed garden coming to life.  This will be the first spring in this garden and I've already found Hellebore seedlings here!  Lots of bulbs are coming up too.

One of my favorite parts of the shed garden.  Daffodils, tulips and Bluebells are all coming up.  I'm beginning to doubt the variegated rhododendron will ever bloom, good thing I bought it for it's foliage.

Mexican Orange (Choysia ternata) was one of the shrubs I moved when I put the path through the front garden.  Aside from constantly being blown over with all the wind we've had, it's looking really good.  I've got it staked up better now and hopefully the roots will have a chance to take hold.

I'm really hoping for some dry weather this weekend, we are planning to finish off most of the front garden project and moving soil in the rain just doesn't sound like fun.  I've looked at four different weather forecasts, and all four have different predictions for the weekend.  I'm going with the one that says "cloudy with a bit of rain".  I like that better than the one that says 70% chance of rain.
I hope you'll visit Glenda/Tootsie to see what she and other gardeners are sharing today for Fertilizer Friday.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.