Purple Flowers

Purple seems to be all over the garden now. From the top: chives, Meyer Lilac (just starting to bloom), columbine, and irises. Also blooming, but not pictured are catmint, kerria, daisies, viburnums, and snow-in-summer (that's the little white flowers pictured with the columbine).

Kerria - to illustrate two points

I've posted these two pictures of Kerria japonica 'Variegata' for two reasons. First, so you can see I have more than white flowering shrubs. Second, so you can see that I don't banish from the garden every plant that tries to spread. The picture below is of the original plant. I cut it back severely last year and it has come back nicely. The plant above is a baby plant that established itself on the other side of the fence from the original plant. This shrub does well in shade (the one below is on the north side of the house/fence) and sun (the one above is on the west side of the house, on the south side of the fence).

Moneywort

As a public service, I am posting a picture of moneywort so you can memorize what it looks like and avoid it! The latin name on the tag is Lysimachia nummularia. The tag description started with "this fast-growing ground cover". I paid $2.95 for a 4 " pot of it. I dug out a bed of it that was at least 8 ' x 4' . I still have a bit more to grub out. (See post "Progress on the Pestilence Plants")

Two Favorite Hand Tool

These are two of my favorite hand tools. The top one is a Japanese Hand Digging Hoe. I use it a lot for general weeding, and also for cutting out sod. The bottom one is a Japanese Digging Knife, also known as a "hori hori" knife. It's great for getting weeds out that are close to other plants that you don't want to pull out with the weed. Both are pretty sharp, which is one of the reasons I think they work so well.

Tulips around a Tree

I've gotten some nice comments from passers-by on these tulips. I am going to plant hostas around the tulips.

Raised Bed Garden - Waiting to be Planted

The raised bed vegetable garden, waiting to be planted. See March 26th posting for how I constructed this area.

White Flowers

These are some white flowering plants in the garden. Top to bottom: Viburnum lantana, commonly called Wayfaring Tree, white flowering Lilac, crabapple and Fothergilla.

Fothergilla in Bloom

This is a Fothergilla in bloom. I don't see a lot of these shrubs, which is a shame as it is a pretty good shrub. Spring flowers, dark green leaves that turn to a reddish orange in the fall and doesn't get too large (at least these don't). I basically planted them and that's it!

Bunny Planter

I like different planters for different seasons. This is my bunny planter, which I put out in the spring with violas in it. When the violas start to fade, I switch this out with something more suited to summer planting.

Crabapple Blooms

I took this close up picture of my crabapple tree to show how the buds start out a deep pink, fade to light pink and then when the flowers ares fully open, they are white.

This is a variety called "Guinivere".

Morel Mushroom

Morel mushroom.
There are several good sites on the Internet about morels and finding them. This one came from this site.

Violets

Some people think that violets are weeds. I like them, and always have to have a few someplace. I don't mind some in the grass, either!

Serviceberry

The serviceberry is blooming. I feel like it may be blooming a little earlier this year, which may be because it feels like we went from winter right to summer and not much spring. I think we should plant more service berries. They can either be a tree (single trunk) or a multi-stemmed large shrub. In addition to the white flowers in the spring, they also produce small fruit which the birds like, and have decent fall color. The one thing I like about them over the flowering pears that are everywhere is these don't have that odd smell when blooming like the flowering pear has.

Grape Hyacinths

Grape hyacinths. These are always bright and colorful. Some people naturalize them in their lawns, especially in areas of semi shade. These are growing on the edge of a flower bed in the back yard.

More spring flowers!

These "blue star" flowers have been blooming for over a week, by the front steps.

Daffodils

Spring means daffodils. Here are a few in my garden. It was really a bit too sunny to take pictures today, but I took them anyway. The top picture of daffodils is in the bed of ivy that I'm trying to clean out. You can see I have my work cut out for me.

Window Box of Pansies

A window box of pansies. I planted these in early March and they've survived snow and cold and are going strong. I wish I could say the same for the pansies I planted in the ground. The bunnies have eaten most of those!

Lenten Roses

These are hellebores, also called Lenten Rose. These have both been blooming for a few weeks now and are some of the 1st flowers to bloom in my garden. I think breeders are working on new varieties that hold their flowers more upright. That's the one complaint I've heard... the flowers are a bit shy about showing themselves!

The Newest Hoe - Dutch Push Hoe

Grub Hoe, When You Need A Hard Working Hoe!