happy earth day

I woke up in a good mood this morning.  Trust me, that is not normal.  But I played in the yard yesterday after work, and read a book last night.  The day before I spent the evening outside too.  Being outside makes me happy, and today is the day to celebrate that.

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!

 

 

 

 

 

 These Confederate Violets found a home in my front path yesterday.

lily of the valley

I always thought lily of the valley would come up with the daffodils.  Nope.  It comes up with the hostas.  Which is good to know, because I thought I had done the impossible and killed it.

My lilly of the valley is coming up, but it's not what I would call thriving.  I had visions of it making a nice little border around my mini shade garden, or even filling in and acting like a ground cover.  Nope.  It's there, but exactly as I planted it 2 years ago.  Oh well, maybe I'll be patient and let mother nature run its course, or maybe I'll find a better place for it.

april bloom day 2015

Happy Bloom Day everyone!  Today is also tax day, and my refund arrives day.  Not even the rain is getting me down!  Even though the tulip show managed to fit itself in between bloom days, I have quite a few pictures to share, and not much time to type.  So lets get to it, and take a walk around my yard.

Shade Garden:

Just a few wide shots for perspective

Wild columbine & woodland poppy, 2nd year purple azalea, 3rd year double columbine

2nd year wild geranium, 2nd year trillium (woodland variety)

Side yard:

Bird's foot violet, spiderwort

Dwarf rock iris with wild fern, dwarf rock iri, rue anemone

 Front Yard:

 

1st year purple tulips

Late daffodils, dogwood & half of my front yard

 new-to-me confederate violets

Wild Azaleas:

 

The wild azaleas are so pretty and just smell so good.  The bees are so happy, and you can hear them as you walk towards the plants.  At my house, the white azaleas bloom first, followed by the pink.  Some of the older azaleas are taller than I am, up to around 8-10 feet tall.  I am continuing to clear out underbrush around them every year, and the habitat is expanding. I'd love to nurse back the grove that my grandmother always talks about from her childhood.

Assorted:

There's not a good way to photograph the blueits and capture the carpet that covers my yard.  My yard is mostly moss, and I only mow a few times a year.  This has allowed the blueits to take over, and I think it is so pretty.

You can also see that my hellebores are very happy with my shady home, and are well on their way to multiplying & establishing little colonies.

Ok, that's it.  Not bad for a quick post!  As always, thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!! If you'd like to see more of what's blooming around the world today, stop by her blog.

tulips

So here is my tulip story.  They are some of my favorite cut flowers.  I planted what I hoped to become gorgeous yellow tulips along my driveway, but after two seasons, they never bloomed.  They would send up sad little leaves, but never flowers.  Tulip fail.  I did some reading and saw they like full sun, so I dug up the bulbs and moved them to a sunnier location.  I also decided to try my luck with new bulbs, and on an impulse buy, I picked up 30 purple and 30 orange bulbs last fall.  With the help of a 5 year old, I planted some in the front yard, and some along my back fence with the roses.

They're blooming!

The new bulbs at least.  The older bulbs did the same, come up but not bloom routine.  Unless someone else has words of wisdom for me, they'll get one year of fertilizer in the their new home, and if they don't bloom next year, they'll be replaced. 

One interesting note about the orange tulips, they are yellow when they come up, and then turn bright orange.  They also open up during the day, and close up at night.  Who knew! 

daffodils

The daffodils are about done for the season, and I thought it was time to show them off a little bit. I upped my daffodil game last year, and the results make me happy.  I've been able to pick a couple of bouquets, and still have plenty of flowers blooming in the yard.   That may not sounds like a big deal, but considering where I started when I moved in, trust me it is.  I'll add a more daffodils this year, but it won't be the huge undertaking it once was.

 

I have daffodils in quite a few places, but the main show is along the rock wall beside my driveway.  This area was completely bare when I moved in, and eventually I'd like to make a shade border with year round interest.  It's a work in progress, but it still makes me happy.

And just for good measure, here's a picture of the vinca minor near my front steps.  It was exceptionally pretty this year, in part because I give it almost free reign.  Parts of my yard turn purple in the spring, and then the foliage dissapears into the moss, grass, and monkey grass.