Gogeous! Thanks for sharing.

Martha

Amy Smith

That is the house I want to live in. And sit in that swing. And smell the flowers.

Are you a fan of the bird or the sports team?
I am a crow fan. Where other diners ask for a doggie bag I ask for a crow box. I have 6 very spoiled crows that visit every morning.

And your dog is quite handsome too.

Thanks !! I am a fan of the sports team in Baltimore but I also love birds. I really enjoy feeding the songbirds in our backyard - yesterday I got a nice shot of a male cardinal on one feeder, a red-headed woodpecker on the suet feeder and a female cardinal sitting on top of the suet feeder, all at once. We have 3 big dogs who are currently traipsing through the gardens all winter, then before things start to awaken in spring, I put the fences back up until it fills in, usually by July. I don't like how the fences look but the dogs just won't stay out without them.
I planned the gardens to basically take care of themselves and only add plants when I get tired of one or it doesn't perform well. This past year i neglected the gardens in the second half of the season, but they still looked good on their own. I still need to do a cleanup before spring to get rid of dead foliage, etc. Hopefully there will be a stray warm day before the snows come. We missed out on the big northeast storm yesterday !

Oooooh my goodness! If I didn't already have it baaaad wanting spring I sure do now. Your home and gardens are gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your little piece of heaven. Take care, Judy

Beautiful! Thank you for sharing your drem of spring.
kay

Amy,

I remember some of those pics from earlier this year. I still swoon to look upon them. If I had a place like that, I would think I had died and gone to heaven! Your house and garden are dreamy.

Thanks for sharing with us.

I am dreaming of Spring, as well.
I will be starting my flats of veggies and flowers soon. That really helps. There are already the green tips of my spring flowering bulbs peeking up out of the soil - the promise of Spring in their lovely greens in an otherwise drab world, and little buds forming on trees and shrubs that will swell when spring arrives. Tiny Larkspur plants are up everywhere (tough little buggers). I wish they didn't always grow best in my garden paths.
Dreaming of Spring....

~Annie

Oh, that I will be so blessed to see yet another Spring!

What a wonderful sight to see on my first turning to my computer this morning! I love the picture,8th I think, focusing on the clematis and the tree trunk with the rest of the picture all blurry.

Reminder to me to get the bleeding heart out from its place under the sugar maple to a place with a little more light and a lot more nourishment.

Thanks.

Amy, thank you so much for sharing these photos. Since we've moved into the black and white season up here (NH) it was so nice to see all that color.

That is just stunning! Thank-you for posting your breath of fresh air!!

Amy,
What a gorgeous picture to see on such an ugly rainy,windy,and chilly day.Love your house and gardens,and that purple clematis is exquisite.Thanks for brightening my day.

Sweetannie,good to see you back as well,havn't seen you around for awhile,could that be because i havn't been around??? LOL
Kathi

That is exactly the garden that I've been thinking of putting them into my new bed. I have a paper birch going in for sure, but am interested in knowing what other plants you have in there.....I see the clematis and some others that I recognize, but if you have the other names, I'd sure appreciate it so I can see whether or not they'll work in my zone :)

on greenthumb,

The plants surrounding the birch are all pretty common varieties and are good for dappled sun. They are:
spiderwort
clematis
daylilies
hostas
toad lily
chrysanthemum
Rozanne geranium
hidden close by in the mostly shady part are 2 huechera and a japanese painted fern
There are also oriental lilies and trumpet lilies mixed in through the whole bed, those bloom in mid June through mid July.

Thanks everyone, for the compliments. let's see your best spring shots !!
Amy

I can't believe I only have 2 spring pictures... I'll have to fix that this coming year...

This from several years ago. I like the misty quality it has but don't remember what I did to get it to look that way :(

Just a terrific and healthy mature garden. Great textural contrasts and varying heights, to say nothing of the colours. Is that yellow rose Julia Child? What is growing through it? A salvia of some kind?

Amy,
I know I've commented on your garden before. It's just perfect. Exactly what I want the front of my house to look like. I have the river birch, dwarf evergreen, iris, tree peony, ferns, hostas, lavender, coral bells, sedum, azalea, hydrangea, , korean lilac, frothergilla, hardy geraniums, balloon flowers, coneflowers, holly, chelone, liatris, lillies, rose and boxwood. I wintersowed Sweet William, Lauren poppies and sea holly that should bloom this year.

My problem is I can't get it in my head how many plants it takes to fill in the space. I think I am putting in a lot, but then it still looks bare. The garden is going on its fifth year. I should have my act together by now.

I'll try to post some spring shots later. I'm down with the flu on the laptop and the pictures are on the office computer.

Thanks for sharing again!

Lovely pics...so nice to see on a cold, snowy day. I've been looking through my "garden inspiration" pics today- I'm so thankful for pictures!

Here is a lupine that I wintersowed the year before:

Well, here it is March 2014 and I am getting antsy to see some spring green! Lots of fat robins in the front yard today-a welcome sign to me that warmth is coming, slowly but surely. Buds on the trees also remind me of impending happiness. I am looking forward to seeing some of the new things planted last year, to see how they survived all the snow and brutal cold we got this winter. Last spring, I potted up a bunch of self-seeded plants and sold most of them at a community yard sale, but had a few left over, so I planted them in some areas that have not gotten a ton of love yet. Looking forward to see how the "freebies" fill out this year. I am excited to mulch...is that weird?!
Amy

Omygoodness ... Those pics were breathtaking. That magenta flower glowed. Even on my tiny phone