Blue, I'm blue. And purple. And pink. And white.

Yellow is the color of springtime around here, but this year there was no forsythia and few daffodils. Even the dandelions lacked enthusiasm. But the follow-up act has been stupendous.

I'm not really an iris person - too much show for too short a time, and then they spread and spread and spread. Do newer cultivars not spread? I see them in polite little clumps in other yards, but mine (which came with the house) have been a PITA. I dug up and gave away all the white ones, while the purple have been less than stunning. Until this year. Someday they may follow the white to other homes, but for now, I guess I'll keep them.

Iris

Is catnip the same as catmint? I have purchased catnip in the herb section and catmint in the perennial section, but they look alike. Recently, I found a site that says they *are* alike. The only difference seems to be whether they have a fancy name, like 'Walker's Low'.

Catnip

Catmint

Chives are chives, I think. These are regular chives, which bloom in the spring. I also have garlic chives, which are much less robust and bloom later in the summer, with completely different flowers. I like them both, but use the regular ones more, while waiting for the onions to grow.

Chives

I had to look the next one up. I knew it was "false" something - the color should have given it away. I'm not sure when I planted it - cant' find a blog entry for it - and I can't find the plant tag, so if it is something special, we'll never know.

False indigo, up close

False indigo, holding its own

The columbine is running rampant this year, spreading here and there to its heart's content. Fine with me. I bought a fancy cultivar a year or two ago, but have not noticed it yet. Maybe it succumbed to the winter? Or was eaten alive by the catmint?

Columbine

I was able to find the name of this shrub. It not only survived the winter but the rabbits as well; the snows were deeper than the chicken wire was high, so it got nibbled a bit. It strikes me as a very hardy specimen.

Wentworth highbush cranberry

These phlox also came with the house. Some years they nearly take over the yard, but they are welcome guests who know when it is time to leave. Once the flowers have turned to seeds, the plants dry up. The seed scatter as I pull out the stalks, ensuring their return next spring.

Phlox (please ignore all the thistle)

Too bad salvia are not long bloomers. If pinched back, they sometimes bloom again, but I don't have the patience.

Salvia nemorosa ‘New Dimension Rose’

What color is your garden today?

Surprise!

Two years ago, I ordered a tomato collection from Burpee, and waited and waited and waited for those plants to arrive. They finally did, two weeks after they should have gone into the ground. All my complaints were answered with "We ship them at the right time for your zone" but I think they either did not plant enough or the first crop failed. I decided to risk it again this year, ordering both a nine-plant tomato collection and a six-plant pepper collection, but bought an Early Girl from a local nursery as a hedge against another late arrival. So guess what showed up on my doorstep last Thursday? Yep, my plants from Burpee. I am holding them for a few more days, as the nights are still a bit cool for 'maters, but I am very pleased to have them sitting on the patio.

My son did help with the digging of two holes, one for the Acer palmatum 'Bloodgood' and one for the Viburnum dentatum 'Chicago Luster'. I let Arbor Farms plant the Liriodendron tulipifera. I did not watch their every move, but it looks like they left the roots wrapped in burlap? Not sure if that is a good idea, but these guys are not newbies. Hopefully they know what they are doing.



I gave my son some other "heavy lifting" kind of tasks, like digging up the sod where my vegetable garden paths will be. It's peculiar now men have more upper body strength than women, but women seem to have more endurance.

What else? I took the dead laceleaf Japanese maple back to Lowes today. No argument from them, although the woman at the returns desk was not very cheerful. I'm guessing sometimes she has to deal with some real wieners.

I have visited about every nursery there is to visit in these parts, buying marigolds here, admiring the redbuds there, but it seems to me that the variety of offerings is getting, well, less varied. I'm particularly disappointed in the herbs this year. Part of my future kitchen renovation includes a corner for growing plants indoors, so maybe I will just have to start my own.

These phlox are self-sowing, and I celebrate their return each year. They smell great, too.



The Viburnum prunifolium is the most robust of all my Viburnums.



The rabbits are becoming quite tame, except for the babies. I was surprised this one let me get so close.



Maybe if this guy lived in my yard instead of down the street, I would not have so many baby bunnies.



Anything that eats mice and rats is okay by me!

I (heart) Compost

Earlier this spring, I spread a little love around my yard in the form of compost. The shrubs and perenniels are responding favorably. Compost is such a gentle but potent way to feed the soil which feeds the plants.

Another photo of the onondaga viburnum...



... which doesn't do justice to the contrasting colors of the unopened buds and the creamy flowers.

The chives are almost the same shade of lavendar...



... as the spring phlox that reappear in my yard each year.



There are a lot of mushrooms as well.



I presume the spores piggy back on the mulch.



And I presume these are not edible.

The cotoneaster is recovering from the whacking I gave it earlier this spring.



It is just starting to bloom, as are the columbine...



... and the peony.



The iris is in full swing.



No, this is not poison ivy, but virginia creeper. It got a foothold several years ago and I just let it go, to see what would happen.



Unfortunately, what is going to happen is that it will get whacked when the Florida room is replaced. Not to worry, though, as there is more growing in the back garden.