Spring is Springing

I love to garden.

I don't know where it came from.  I knew nothing about plants and never cared to.  I didn't even know the difference between an annual and a perennial.

Then came my first summer staying home with baby.  I stared out the back door and couldn't stand the ratty mess looking back at me.  I knew it could be something better.  Since day after day, we would stroll past the stunning waterfalls of shapes and colors in the gardens all around the Annex.  How hard could it be?

Before - Spring 2007

Hard.  But I threw myself into it, finding I just loved it.  Learning the perennials, planning the garden, feeling great when they grew.  And admitting defeat when the sun plants died in my mostly shade garden. 

After - Spring 2008

Or finding out I almost killed the gorgeous Japanese Maple with my bad hack job.  It's still in the revival stages after a "DO NOT touch this tree again" visit from the arborist 2 years ago.  

Small Jap Maple - Spring 2010

Last year's basement renovation kept me from even thinking about the garden last year.  It was impossibly filled with wood beams, jacks, old duct work and other random construction related tools, tarps & dirt.

So I'm chomping at the bit for Summer 2012.  So far, so good.

Late March

Today!

Yup, the Japanese Maple is coming back.  The arborist told me at least 5 years before it's back on it's feet.  Year 3 is looking promising.  And I'm not touching it. 

Leafing Out

The Trilliums are blooming. 

Sign of Spring

The Bleeding Hearts are appearing....10 days ago this plant wasn't even out of the ground!

Pink Hearts

And the native Wood Poppy is getting ready to explode.

Soon-to-be Yellow Flowers

I may have some dead-and-gone hydrangeas due to last year's negligence.  I cut the dead branches down to nubs, hoping that the little green leafs from the base will grow up and out. 

They're this year's experiment:

This will be the Before picture

I even had a welcome visitor checking things out....

He had good timing.  Jake & Henry weren't around to smush him to bits...