Just as winter arrived early this year, so apparently has Spring. It began to creep into my yard about two weeks ago, and now it is revving up a little more each day. I have never been so excited to see a new growing season because this is our first after completing our Bay-Friendly Landscape Makeover. Plants which have now been in the ground close to a year should be well established, and ready to rock n' roll!
Every day I wander around the yard for a few minutes to see what's growing and blooming. I do a little weeding and pruning, and Rick blows the still-falling leaves from our pathways back to the mulched beds, but those are the only yard chores we have. The grass-free landscape is indeed proving to be as low-maintenance as we hoped. Now time spent in my yard is a delightul choice, rather than mandatory drudgery.
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| Flax lilies and bulbine |
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| Bulbine bloom |
Hot on their heels were my native viburnums, Big Walter (Walter's viburnum) and the Little Walters (dwarf "Mrs. Schiller's" variety). All are draped in their dainty, lacy white flowers. What a spectacular show!
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| Big Walter (Walter's Viburnum) |
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| Little Walter, our Dwarf Walter's (Mrs. Schiller's) Viburnum |
My Shoal Creek Chaste tree, a deciduous shrub that spent all winter completely leafless, already has begun popping out leaves. In fact, it is producing leaves a full month earlier than last year when I planted it.
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| Majestic Beauty hawthorne tree |
And I am eagerly awaiting the first pink blossoms opening on my Yedda ("Majestic Beauty") hawthorne, an unusual tree-form Indian hawthorne that all my neighbors admire.
I can't wait to get home every day and see what is sprouting.
Perfect temperatures, bluebird skies, growing plants everywhere. It's the best time of year!
What are your favorite gardening signs of spring?
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| View of our back yard |
