some tulips just poking through in my zone. We have a cold snap today -1 C. so things are still slow coming up.

Snowdrops and crocus are finished, grape hyacinths are just coming into their own, hellebores, pulmonarias, mini daffs and primula are blooming as is my magnolia stellata. Tulips are starting to color up, the flower stems on some of the epimediums are starting to emerge.
In the greenhouse the begonias are starting to show signs of life, the tomatoes are in need of being potted on. I planted some Chinese Red Noodle beans along with 2 kinds of rice beans in containers in the greenhouse.
Tomorrow I'm planting lettuce, radish and possibly a row of carrots outside, digging out two rambler roses they are going to a new home and maybe get some more cleanup done. Things are really starting to pop around here :o).

Annette

Today, the Morris Plum is blooming. In a couple of days, the Thundercloud Plum should throw its pink blooms into the fray.

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The peach is in full bloom, just in time for a possible frost tomorrow morning.

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Since my seeds got a late start due to very cold weather in January and February, I've been spending several 70+ degree days taking in the view.

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Yesterday, freezing cold rain!! I really got chilled when
I was doing my weekly shopping. This morning we woke up to snow covered ground. Actually we woke in the night and saw it coming down. The snow only fell on 3 counties in Eastern Indiana. Schools delayed 2 hours and the ice was treacherous for walking. Now in early evening snow only survives in a few cracks on trees and a few north facing cold spots. The early daffodils are all drooped over but
hopefully they will straighten tomorrow.

Chris

My daffs and snowdrops are about done. The lorepetalum blooms froze when we had that freak blizzard. The pear tree blooms are past their prime, but still pretty.

The crab apples just started blooming yesterday. I have just a couple of buds on my roses, but you have to really look hard to find them. The bushes, however, are all leafed out and are looking good.

I am beginning to try to figure out what to plant where things froze and aren't coming back. Have a jasmine that has one lonely leaf on it. Still trying to figure out if it's worth saving. I put a clematis where the mandevilla was. Didn't figure it would come back. I still have false hope for the brugmansia. I'll have to travel an hour to get another to replace it. It has such amazing blooms, I want another! The rosemarys died, even though I thought they were supposed to make it. Not sure what I'll do there. Bought several more roses for the bed I didn't quite finish last year, and to replace a couple of roses that looked sad.

And, I'm starting to weed and mulch. Have finished the front of the house, and am working my way around. It will take me a few more weeks to finish. And, I'm convincing DH that we need to acquire an arbor and a statue. :) They will put a lot of 'pop' in the garden.

It's spring! Time to get the gardens in shape!

Daffs are blooming
Apricot buds are showing some color
crocus finished
Seeing tight bloom buds on the lilacs
Forsythia just starting

I began the great garden cleanup this week. I have 3 done and 4 to go. Debris still laying next to the beds.

We had 2 inches of snow and ice on the first day of spring. Then a beautiful day....next 24 hours of rain...now very windy and cool. I won't do much until the promised 70's hit next week.

Under lights: Daylily seedlings, calendula, vinca, one vigna caracalla seedling, hyacinth bean vine, melampodium

Next to go: Plant all tomato and peppers and egg plant
for under lights

In cold frame: flat of cabbages and broccoli. Container of red snaps.

Another week and I will have to mow.

Dreaded project. The garage wall bed must be reworked. Some blasted grass, maybe brome, has taken over. I think I will take it a section at a time and remove all......except for the Russian Sage, that would take a professional digger.

Snow and cold brought work to a stand still here. Daffs are just now starting to bloom, my peach trees should have had some pruning done I see many dead twigs and a branch or two.

Not too sure if the Redbud trees will put on a nice show this year like in the past, not many flower buds that I can see right now. Maybe a little early. Both very tall and older pussy willow shrubs (more like trees)appear to be dead - that's a shock, took for granted they would always be there in the hedge row. I'm a little baffled by it.

I had the septic line snaked out last week, the one that goes right through one of my shrub beds (yes, I know but I planted in that spot anyway)and the guy said the plastic tile is probably "egg-shaped" now from the weight of the soil over the years, so the tile should be replaced. Ugh. He said within 4yrs.at the most. It would mean moving the two big Rosey Glow barberry shrubs and some daylillys out and back in; not the end of the world, they are pretty hardy I think and will take it fairly well. The cost of the tile is another thing - there goes my garden budget for several seasons!

It's been too cold and damp for outside work here. I'm hoping to maybe start this coming week. The snowdrops have been in bloom for a while as well as winter aconites. A couple of crocuses have bloomed but not many yet.

We've made the column tripod for the clematises at the back of the garage - maybe be able to install it this week as I think the frost is out of the ground in that area now. Wed. we went to the iron craftsman to discuss having him make the iron obelisk/tuteur I designed. I'm waiting for the quote on that, although I need to go back this week because I've changed my mind on the size and shape of the center pieces of iron.

I have a few petunia seeds started in the basement that need potting up - they're in the peat pellet things now. We started a few tomato seeds this week. The elephant ears are potted up and growing - so they will be a decent size by the time it's warm enough to put them in the big pots outdoors. The big pots of strawberries, blueberries and garlic have been moved from winter storage in the garage to the driveway. It will soon be time to start the pots of peas.

I'm always impatient for things to get going in spring. It'll be moving along quickly soon - I hope!

What's up? Well at last quite a bit is up after the nastiest Winter for 30 years. Our local nursery man says he normally reckons on 20 frosts a year but we had over 40 this year. I just nipped out quickly with the camera so excuse the tatty foliage and general junk in these.

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Here is a link that might be useful: A few things more...

That picture was there when I did the preview. I'll try again.

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Oh Flora - as usual, breathtaking.

I have tulip, daff, and crocus noses showing. Many plants came through the winter still green - bell flowers, sweet williams, pachysandra, etc. I raked a few beds off today. Oriental poppies, columbine, shasta daisies alive under the leaves. Yea!!! 8c, sunny and windy today. It is supposed to rain tomorrow - I guess it is almost April showers!!

Nancy.

Flora your g@rden gets me so wanting to go out and tear mine apart, your wall (coveting ;), your tree, the flagstone, the signs of emerging spring in a such a pretty cottage g@rden.
Sounds like you've had a winter like we had in 08/09 which was one of our worst if not the worst in recorded history.

Annette

I always enjoy flora's garden pics. What type of tree is that?

I also love looking at everyone's photos!! So beautiful and really moves me to do more in my new garden beds. Spring is here and we've had some warm days...only to get more winds and cooler weather usually behind that. I have tons of pansies and violas all over, crocus, daffs, "a" lonely pink tulip which began blooming yesterday with many more waiting to join him...:) Almost everything has come back: lilacs, salvias, shasta daisies, lavendar's, agastache, stonecrop, hollyhocks, peonies, lithodora, creeping phlox, yarrow, columbine, veronica...flowering plum tree just started blooming :) I planted some clematis (etoile violette) vine along our front fence with erysimums in front of them to keep their roots cool. I think the wildflower poppy seeds are coming up along the sides of our dry creek bed (still waiting to see what made it)...my irises are up too (no blooms yet)...I have lots of different roses are coming back too.

Got my first hummingbird today!!! How sweet...so I made a lot more sugar water for them all.

That is very lovely Flora! I love the shape of your tree with the rustic charm of everything. It looks like your spring is progressing along on par with ours. We've sure had English weather here. Mostly cool and damp to raining. The flowering trees are SPECTACULAR right now. I'm going to try and go out and take photographs this week so you can have a peek at our freakish Southern Spring. It is frustrating for vegetable gardeners but wonderful for flowers and blubs which are flowering longer with the cool weather. My garden is bursting with color these days. Especially along the fence line where I rely just on green fill in the summer(I've not really found anything that likes it down there in the heat of summer). Yellow pansies, hot pink phlox, bright blue grape hyacinth and the daffs (which are just about over there now).
The other side of the yard (at the pink house) has all this except for the yellow pansies (swapped for bright blue ground hugging veronica) in bloom between the sidewalk and the road. I like to see people drive by and slow down to enjoy the first sites of Spring!

Flora,
I love your house. The flagstones, the tree, the wall...Love it!
kay

schoolhouse - the tree is a medlar.

Organic_kitten - the building in the picture is the garden shed, not my house!:)

I can't claim any credit for anything except the plants. The rest was all there when we moved in.

Flora, do you eat from your Medlar?

So many beautiful garden pictures! All the flowers and color...and Token's boots LOL.

I have daffodils coming up and just starting to get buds on them! This is very exciting, after the last two years, when we still had a couple of feet of snow at this time of year :)

This is my first year for tulips and hyacinths. I planted them pretty late last fall, but I have little sprouts in the front...and I think a few dutch iris. As soon as anything is actually blooming, this is the year I'm going to take pictures!

I have snowdrops and crocus, daffodils are starting to burst open, primula, pulmonaria, dicentra, tips of hosta and tulips are breaking through. My forsythia is in full, glorious color and I can see the flowering and fruit trees are getting ready. I'm so glad to see spring, what a long, difficult winter.

It is a perfect shed! What a dreamy scene you have.

What's up? That would be only crocuses here. It's been a quiet spring in Lake Wobegone, I mean northern Michigan, and dry enough to border on record-breaking. The snow left about a month early, and all the rain storms have swooped south of us and then north into new England. Fire danger is getting quite high, with only warm temps and dry weather in the forecastable future. What a curse, ha, ha, warm and dry weather in March. Maybe we will get some of those April showers I have heard of.

ThinMan

In my garden the daffodils are in bloom, the hyacinth in bud. The foxglove leaves are huge and I only planted them last year. Poking through are daylillies, iris, and lobelia vedriansis. Have I mentioned how much I love lobelia vedriansis? I have it near huge maple trees and it still grows like a weed. It spreads, it doesn't mind the deep shade or dry conditions, and it flowers ALL summer. This spring I'll be working on the vegetable garden and the shade garden out front. I want to fill in with some great shrubs and perennials for shade/partial shade. And, sadly, the two huge maples so close to my house may need to come down. At some point, it's us or them.

Hyacinths are about through, ditto many of the tulips although some are in bud, but haven't opened yet. Muscari are still in bloom. Daffodils are beautiful but waning a bit. The tulip tree and pear trees are in bloom.

The wisteria is budded, but not open yet. Iris and daylilies are greening up and growing...no flowers yet. No stems on the dutch iris in spite of beautiful foilage.

Just came in from planting 3 clematis that overwintered in my little greenhouse and I need to work on re-leveling the stepping stones that repeated freezes and thaws and floods moved about a little. I need to put down some mulch...But it sure looks like spring!

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kay

Yes, we eat a few of the medlars but they are really not much to write home about. Imagine rather gritty overcooked apple sauce. I've also made them into jelly but again not very exciting. Lovely magnolia, Kay.

What happy spring thoughts...

I just made a lovely garden honey-do list for my dh since I can't be out in the garden doing as much as I'd like this year...so instead I sat in the sunshine and made a list for him! Daffs & forsythia are out, and lots of pretty bits of green from the perennials showing.

My main goal this spring is to get some more compost down on the cottage garden and to finish moving plants from our old house. (thankfully my brother-in-law bought it, and he does not want any of the plants!) I'd also like to paint/stain the picket fence that we put in to enclose the garden last fall. Am going to pick up a few more samples here in a bit, in fact.

I wish I had your garden shed, flora, I would live in it (!).

A few of my early species tulips bloomed ;-)
CMK

The garden is starting to get green - this is so much fun! We've had a few really warm days to get everything going. I had to laugh at Token's boot picture - yesterday I took a picture of my feet up in the garden and posted it to facebook! (So easy to do with the camera in the phone, lol).

Oh, and Flora, I was drooling over your photos! Just gorgeous!

As far as blooms go, my violas have been blooming for a few weeks, and the snowdrops are getting toward the end of their show. The daffodils and grape hyacinths are getting ready for their cue, but not quite yet. I've already started on the weeding - mostly grass that I hadn't covered well enough at the edge of dd's border and was threatening to take over.

I also got inspired and moved a big timber from the front to the back yard and then put the sandbox next to it, near the climbing dome and little (crappy, ugly plastic) playhouse, to make the kid area better. We also brought out some toy trucks to keep in a bin in the shed, and started digging up a small patch of dirt. Dd loves the changes - the timber is great as either a balance beam or a place to sit, and anchors the play area visually. I also wasn't going to be using it where it was, so this worked out nicely.

Crocus are done, daffodils still beautiful but on their way out, tulips going gangbusters, camillias are loaded with flowers, fritillaria blooming along with siberian squill. All of the perennials are greening up and looking good, oxalis adenophylla up but not blooming yet. Lots of seedlings everywhere (some sown by mother nature, some direct sown by me).

One unwelcome Easter visitor: aphids on my roses! However, I did see a few ladybugs on the roses, too, so I have some good guys on my side.

Lisa

Couldn't resist a basket of orange pansies with stripes of black on their faces at the nursery/seed store. I just planted them out around the bird bath because we are expecting rain for the next couple of days and thought it would give them a good start. Normally don't plant this early, but the lady said it would be fine and to just cover if frost is in the forecast.

Bought my lettuce, greens, Romaine starts, beet seed and onion sets and some new pruners. Roto tilled the garden but will wait a couple of weeks to put in the seed. Only going to buy some tomato plants later and that's it for my veggies this year. Of course I always say that and end up bringing other seed packets home. I told myself no green beans this year, but I did buy some Painted Lady beans for the red/white blooms because I always wanted to try them.

Cleaned out my seed basket and put all the packs I bought over the past several years and never planted and packs with leftover seed in them from last year into one big bag. I'm going to empty them all into the bag and scatter them. What comes up, comes up. I'll call it my "crazy quilt" garden.

So much...I'm mostly excited about my rodgersia's finally coming up...just popped them in the ground this spring after looking for a seller for months this winter!
Here's henrici below...see the link fore more stuff coming up!
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Here is a link that might be useful: Rhone Street Gardens - What's Coming Up!

I decided on the spur of the moment this afternoon to plant my veggie seeds after all, plus the Romaine starts and the onion sets. Now the temps are suppose to turn colder, but I think the Romaine will be alright. Bought a box of "asst.oriental lillies" and a box of 8 "Hardy Glads" today at the hardware store.

Both of my mowers are in the shop for tune-ups until Friday afternoon - then it will be mow, mow, mow....

Lovely spring photos!

We've had a run of HOT weather. It looks like spring, but feels like summer with some days in the 90s. Too crazy. We desperately need rain. My porch is filled with plants "waiting for the last frost date to pass" but it has turned into waiting for the hot weather to pass. I fear that my garden filled with poppy, nigella, cornflower and larkspur will toast before they can bloom!

In bloom:

loropetalum is finishing
Pieris japonica is finishing
daffodils
Spanish bluebells are starting
Lady Banks rose
Kwansan cherry

Phlox subulata is the best that I've ever seen it! My clematis are growing a foot at a time while I watch in amazement! LOL

Everything appears to be two weeks ahead of bloom, according to my photos from last year.

Cameron

In my beds there is candytuft, creeping phlox, Solomon's seal, May Knight salvia, redbuds, loropetalum, forget-me-nots, Lady Banks (just beginning), dianthus, yellow allysum, wisteria, coreopsis (just a few so far), iris, and last evening I noticed the first red rose on my oldest Knock Out. It is amazing how quickly things have come on this spring. In fact, it has gotten ahead of me - I still haven't had time to clean up all the beds. But this weekend is supposed to be beautiful - cooler than the 90+ degree weather we have had for the last week or so - and I hope to spend a LOT of time out there working and enjoying.

Oh! And I forgot to mention that I saw the first hummingbird yesterday evening, too!!

I have a daffodil blooming!

Not bad for zone 4...usually we don't see daffodils for another few weeks :)

Hmmm....
We have lots of plans. A new front garden bed and a new raised veggie bed in the back. A Satsuma and Shiro plum that both need to go in the ground.
The roses are full of buds but only a few blooms here and there. My new-ish antique rose William R Smith is about to bloom and has what seems to be the biggest rose bud I have ever seen! I can't wait to see the size of the blooms. We have lots of birds foraging for insects and the aphids that appeared on my rose blooms are no more! My resident hummingbird is loving all the Salvia blooms and gets seriously bent out of shape when I enter "his" garden. All in all a good spring.
~Melissa

A few days ago (when there was a break in the weather) I went and cleaned up the areabehind the shed. That is the messiest part of the yard where clippings, leaves, branches, and other yard debris get piled up.

The shed rests on a large concrete slab. There is about six feet x twelve feet of concrete behind the shed that I plan to make into a little seating area/patio. I had a black box composter sitting there, so a few days ago I moved it to behind a cluster of trees that will hide it. I swept the area and put a couple of rustic containers in for colorful plants. Moved the little grill to this spot too. Next thing to get is one of those fire pits (metal ones you can buy at Lowes, etc) and a couple of chairs.

This area faces part of the flower garden and the tiny veggie plot, which may be made into a flower garden in a couple of years (if the front veggie garden goes in and does well).
CMK

Two weeks later ....

The daffs are nearly over. Tulips and hyacinths keeping the show going. (All the hyacinths are ones I have planted out after one season as forced indoor flowers). Bleeding heart coming soon.
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flora, the first pic(posted today)would make the prettiest desktop background for Spring. I could look at that all day.