Around The Yard | Very Early Spring 2014
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I have daydreams of sticking closer to home this summer.
Those often parallel my travel daydreams so it's hard to tell where I'll really end up.
I love my yard and I love working in my yard and I love hanging out in my yard and I love having people over for dinner and eating outside.
It's an amazing spring day here today so I grabbed my camera and took a walk around my house. Here's what I found:
In the front yard right now are those gorgeous little blue flowers around the icy blue lavender.
Forsythia. This is my sure sign that spring is coming. I have one on the right side of my house and one on the left side.
When you come around to the backyard there's this great ground cover under a large Japanese Maple tree.
It's short and lovely.
From left to right: really large white lilac along the side of the house (that I die over every year) + three blueberry bushes along the little fence + the giant wisteria which is what I saw the first time I walked through the doors of this house and it took my breath away (far right).
The blueberries.
Up close on the lilac.
There's a neglected rhododendron in the far edge of my yard with beautiful pink blooms.
These will soon be cherry blossoms.
These, my favorite of all forever and ever amen, are peonies just coming up out of the ground.
There's five or so groupings right here and nothing makes me quite as happy as when they bloom.
I've got some more peonies in a few other parts of my yard. Some that were planted over three years ago that might finally bloom this year. The others that are in the ground above produce the most amazing huge light pink blooms.
A white hydrangea that did pretty well last year. Doesn't look like much now but it will have lovely large white blooms.
These will end up being really tall (I think they are day-lilies).
These came up again from last year. My Mom has told me that daffodils don't always return again and again. Just one this time. I'll likely put more bulbs in the ground there next fall. Behind these are a bunch of dahlias which are my second favorite behind peonies.
I have a shaded area along the back of my house that includes these white bleeding hearts and some other shade-loving plants.
And the beds. Obviously in need of some major TLC. The tomato cages are leftover from last years crop that were all volunteers (meaning they came up again from the year before). I really want to work on this area again this year and make sure I get some sweet peas in here like I did a few years back.
As you might be able to tell, I love perennials. These are the flowers that die to the ground and return again next year and the joy they bring me is big time.
I know how fast this all goes.
By the end of next month my yard will look more like this:
This was taken April 30th of last year when the wisteria was going crazy. We miss you Lily!
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57 comments
I've been looking for a white lilac! My grandmother had one in her yard, right outside 'my' bedroom...can I steal a couple cuttings?
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Totally!
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Very lovely yard. Wonderful sign of renewal. Michelle t
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I really enjoyed seeing your signs of spring, Ali! Beautiful photos! We still have snow covering the ground; no signs of spring yet in Minnesota. We always hope April will bring spring.
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I have spring envy. 7 inches of snow here today. **big sigh** At least this gives me hope!!
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Love this garden walk! Thank you for it. The lovely vine ground cover is a vinca vine. It is such a shiny deep green lovely plant that has beautiful flowers in early spring. I am trying to remember the 'Lovely blue" flowers name. It's a bulb that lives and reproduces for YEARS. I transplanted some from my grandfathers garden in the 1980's. They are abundant and full of meaning to me. The name will come :)! Enjoy these sweet signs of life.
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Waiting, waiting and waiting for the yard to wake up! I do have a few sleepy head jonquil's coming up but that is about it. Mr. Winter please let Spring have her turn!!
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here is northern Ontario Canada we still have at least 4 feet of snow on the ground and it is steadily coming down again today. I can hardly wait for signs of spring in my yard. Maybe around middle of May. Love your yard and your house!
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My yard is waking up too! Since Im in Puyallup, I have many of the same plants. the first picture is of grape hyacinth. Love them, but peonies are my all time favorite!
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LOVE the photos. I wish I lived in a place where spring arrives early. Still snow on the ground here in CT. My OLW this year is Grow and I am using it literally as well as figuratively and have seeds to start, raised beds to construct and a composter ready to roll. Can not wait for spring.
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Beautiful Ali! I'm just west of Portland and I agree with some of the other comments -- I abandon my daffodils (let them die and brown before removing the stems and leaves) and they have been more and more robust each year!
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Love love love your around the yard updates!
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I'm jealous...sun is shining here in Eastern Oregon, but the wind is freezing cold..maybe tomorrow I can go play a bit in the yard...
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i love the focus and blur in these photos! i'm sure there is a much more technical term... whatever it is - you nailed it! were these taken with your dslr? in manual mode? blog post idea: tell us how you did that! your photography tips and tricks.
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My heart skipped a beat on your photo with Lily in it, sweet pup…nothing like a lab (particularly a black one!). Here in Boston, we have snow on the ground still, it snowed last week and it was 16 degrees F this morning. *sigh* lots of garden planning here but nothing to do outside yet. Only bright side was the Boston Flower and Garden show last week…beautiful but kind of a tease! Please keep sending us New Englanders spring photos!! xo
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WOW! This is so far ahead of us in Iowa! Lovely. I. Am. So. Ready!
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The forecast here is for another 10-14 inches of snow in the next 24 hours, so It gives me some hope to see your peonies even if ours likely won't bloom until mid-summer! They have been my favorite since I was a little girl!
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Those "gorgeous little blue flowers" in the first two photos are grape hyacinth, one of my favorites. And your daffodils should always come back bigger and better as long as you let the foliage stay until it yellows and dies back. It's the foliage that feeds the bulb for next year's bloom. Tulips might not come back, but daffodils always will if you don't cut the leaves off too soon. So nice to see signs of spring!
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Often its the ground animals that feast on the daffodil bulbs! Thank you for posting the flowers name... was going to post "blue grape hyacinths" :)
The crazy thing is that I did that - let them die back. Not sure what happened there.
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WOW, it is spring in your area or yard I should say. LOVE IT!!! We have nothing yet, too cold and snow on/off so much we rarely see the grass. I get happy just seeing grass the few times it's happened.
What a beautiful post this was, I enjoyed it all and can't wait to see spring come into my yard now. We need more trees like yours too, how lovely they are.
With a yard like this staying home this summer would be so nice!!
Thanks so much for this walk, brighten up my morning!
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GORGEOUS!!!
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Reminds me of my Grandmother's garden!
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