Year of the violet

I can't believe how many violets I've seen this spring. I have quite a few in my front flower beds, but they are everywhere, especially in untreated lawns where they contrast nicely with the dandelions.

Last summer the lawn across the street sported a lot of clover. This year I called the lawn guy and told him, I miss my clover. His response was, No one has ever said that to me. So while I agreed to them applying a pre-emergent, I am going to spot treat the weeds myself, in the hopes that my yard will include wild strawberry, clover, and violets in the future. Next year we will probably skip the pre-emergent as well.

The redbuds have peaked weeks earlier than usual, much to the delight of a variety of bees that are usually stuck with creeping Charlie and dandelions this time of year. Flowering crab is everywhere, including in my backyard. A feast for the eyes.

One city park I like to visit in the spring is Foster Park. The flower beds are a riot of tulips. I don't consider myself a tulip person, but now I want to plant them in my yard.

My one bone to pick with the city parks department is they don't label plants, not even trees. I'm not very good at tree identification, especially before they leaf out, and would really like to know what this one is.

This pic is to remind me that I like blues and purples together, sort of like the violets and grape hyacinth in my own yard. I've grown forget-me-nots before, but they don't last. I'm surprised they are considered invasive in the Midwest.

I don't just sit around looking at pretty plants in the spring. There has been some spring cleaning - today was spent in the garage - and some clearing out of the old, to make room for the new. These old bones are not used to so much movement, though. I need some aspirin.

A little pop

Now that the temps have risen to near June-like 80's, shrubs and trees are starting their spring show. The neighborhood magnolias are gorgeous, as are those all over town; last night's rain may have ended that show prematurely. The ornamental pears have magically popped as well, which is a mixed blessing as they are proving to be invasive. My completely unscientific observation is they spread to relatively open undeveloped land but not to mature woods. Has anyone else noticed this?

In my own yard, the serviceberry has popped. Some years it fails to bloom due to late frosts, but despite the erratic weather we have had, it patiently held on. Mine has never fully recovered from rabbit girdling its first year, hence its lack of height.

The grape hyacinth has made it's return. Started elsewhere in the front yard, it spread to the yucca bed. I recently did away with the yucca (or at least made a first attempt) and hope the grape hyacinth takes its place, as it's a harbinger of spring and a low-growing ground cover the rest of the summer.

Some people don't like violets in their beds, but I am not one of them. There are also some Johnny-jump-ups elsewhere but getting a photo of them would have required more agility than I have as they are growing under the elderberry behind some hardware cloth. (I don't know if rabbits eat elderberry, but I have lost too many plants and shrubs over the years to take a chance.) This pic also show a bit of columbine starting to show above ground.

Besides the pink hyacinth under the purple smoke bush, there are white ones behind the barberry. I have no explanation for this "hidden garden" other than I thought the white would be a nice contrast to the dark barberry. The barberry is being removed, to give the gold mop more room, plus it is another invasive (one I have not noticed in the wild... yet).

Some of the daffs are done already, but others continue to brighten the landscape. Too many daffs are never enough.

Yellow isn't the only color of daffodil around here. I think this was marketed as a "pink" daffodil, but was not quite what I (nor the catalog) pictured. I still like them.

One of these days the redbud will pop. Meanwhile, the trees are starting to leaf out, even the Prairie Fire crabapple I planted this year in the backyard. Hopefully, those leaves will turn into branches, as right now it mostly resembles a stick.

For the record, my order from Prairie Nursery arrived intact but with no forewarning. The plants look really robust. One flat of coneflower, one of rubekia, one of butterfly weed (for clay), and one of mixed this-and-that. Not pictured: a one gallon pot of Culver's Root. Guess what I will be doing for the next couple of weeks.

Pinks and Blues

Except for the dandelions, the yellows of spring are starting to give way to the pinks and blues. Like the rhododendron, these bloomers are outdoing themselves this year. Apologies for the quality of the pictures (and please excuse the weeds).

If I have one major gardening regret, it is that I don't seem to have a central location for the proper names of the denizens of my yard. (And I'm too lazy to look them up.)

Redbud (one of three)

Sand cherry bush (with deceased asplenifolia to the left)

Grape hyacinth

Volunteer violets

Creeping phlox

Bleeding heart

This little vine is not blooming yet (obviously), but it deserves mentioning because, quite frankly, I had given up hope that it would survive. This poor thing has been planted and transplanted and eaten by bunnies in its short life. And yet, here it is. Life will out.

Clematis Niobe, risen from the dead

Back acres

Today was one of those perfect spring days - perfect temperature, perfect humidity, sunny, no breeze to speak of, and a Saturday, so one could actually be outside enjoying all that perfection. So enjoy it we did, to the tune of one load of mulch. Since my neighbor threatened me, I had to use his pickup truck to fetch said load of mulch from the biosolids site (mulch is free, but having it loaded cost $5). And my SO, who washed my windows yesterday (I know - best boyfriend ever!), helped with the transfer of said mulch to various and sundry locations around the backyard. We ran out of mulch and energy about the same time. I need more (of both mulch and energy), but the perfect weather is scheduled to end at midnight tonight.

Before I trudge off for a long soak, here are a few pics from around the yard.

White hyacinth:



Grape hyacinth:



The march of the pink flamingos past the pink hyacinth:



I severely pruned the forsythia last year, and it is still pouting, so no golden arches this spring.

Son of a Bun

I am guessing that the reason the backyard bunnies seem so tame is they are actually trying to lure me away from their little treasures. Betsy the beagle found this little fellow trying to play hide 'n' seek.



If I can't see you, you can't see me.

I lured the dog away and left the bunny alone, hoping it would find it's way back to a nest or it's mom, but later it was still there. I tried prying it out of the corner with a stick, hoping it would hop away, but it just sat there. I'm not sure it was mature enough to be out of the nest, as it still had the baby bunny instinct to be as still as possible in the hopes of escaping detection, instead of the run-for-your-life instinct. So I put on leather gloves and picked it up and carried it around the corner of the house where the dog could not get it and hid it behind the iris. Hopefully Mom will find it before a cat does.

When not rescuing baby bunnies, I am taking photos.



I planted this sandcherry last summer and am pleased to note the rabbits left it alone over the winter and it appears rather happy to be in my yard. The neighbor across the street had a couple of these at the corners of their front yard, and I looked forward to admiring the pink flowers against the dark foliage every spring, but for some reason he tore them out. So I planted my own.

(This same neighbor shared their plan to also remove a whole row of conifers, which made me gasp out loud. I suggested they not because 1) the trees act as a privacy fence between them and the neighbor to the south, and 2) trees increase a property's value. The problem was he did not want to mow around them - maybe that is why he got rid of the sand cherries - so he compromised by trimming up the lower branches.)

Grape hyacinth really smell like grapes!



The rhododendron in all it's glory.



Three (?) years ago, I planted three arborvitae to provide backyard privacy. Despite the rabbits efforts, they are doing fine, growing from their initial 4 feet to over 6 feet.



The daffodils are from Breck's, their "naturalizing" collection.





When I planted the bulbs, I also planted an English bluebell bulb in each hole. The bluebell foliage comes up every year, but I haven't seen many flowers. Maybe this year will be different.