Early iris

This tiny iris is an early variety - and has the unusual fragrance of root beer! Not sure what the name is, as I got this from a friend.

What not to do....

When I planted these daffodils last fall, I didn't remember that this variety of spirea - Goldmound - is really very yellow in the spring. So these daffodils don't show up very well. I will move them and replace them with some purple or hot pink tulips - those will pop and provide a nice contrast with the yellow spring folliage.

Daffodils and tulips

The daffodils are interesting - they have a many-petalled center. And I can see these purple and yellow tulips from my kitchen window!

Water feature

I bought this fountain on clearance last fall. The basin that came with it was too small, so I bought a nice deep one, dug a hole, leveled the basin and then added a brick for the pump to sit on.

I used 2 pieces of fencing to hold the fountain and the rocks around the base.

Then I added a border of pavers to finish it off.

Lake view!

They are working on the road behind our house - widening it out. They have taken down a lot of trees, which is always tough to see. But there is a bit of a bright side - we can now see the lake! For now - until the trees fully leaf out!

I have a spot where I'll put a bench so that I can enjoy that view of the water.

Spring!!

We have had a stretch of mild weather and things are really greening up! These daffodils surprised me - I think they might have been the bulbs that I got on sale. They are only about 6 to 8 inches tall! Quite cute, but in our big yard, they don't have quite the impact that a larger variety would have.

Actually, I've had quite a few surprises - voles really chewed up my roses in my front garden. Out of the 12 in the rose garden, only two are showing signs of life. The others out in the shrub borders seem to be OK - so that is good. They did not chew up my blueberry shrubs - well, maybe one of them. And some of my ornamental grasses were chewed off to the ground - not sure if they will come back. I will have to make sure to protect the roses and other shrubs next fall.

Some fun surprises - the rhubarb that I planted last fall is coming up. And I buried a miniature rose in the vegetable garden and forgot all about it until today, when I saw some of its leaves poking through the ground. So I dug it up - it is very green! Lots of peonies are starting to poke through the earth. And there are a few mystery plants - things I'm sure I got on sale last fall that I'm not familiar with. While I usually plant the tag next to the plant, a couple of them are missing! So the surprises will continue....

Some things on the to do list this spring:

• Finish mulching around the vegetable garden.
• Build a retaining wall on the east side of the garage.
• Lay fabric and mulch on my path to get rid of the grass, finish edging with rock, and create a seating area as a destination.
• Move trees!!!
• Find permanent homes for the techny arborvitae and cottoneasters on the east side of the garage.
• Shade garden on north side of garage.
• Plant cutting garden!!!
• Put down corn gluten on lawn to help cut down on weeds.
• Move lilac.
• Add lights to front walkway.
• Add new water feature to front garden.