working outside

Laying mulch the other day. I used up all of my shredded leaves and had to finish off the job with whole ones, only partly broken down. I know by the end of the year they will be decomposed into the ground but right now it looks odd- much less tidy on one side of the bed! I don't mind too much, as this is in the backyard.

Liriope is coming up strong now- I've cut back the older foliage and glad seeing the bright green younger shoots.

Quite a few of my new perennials are already forming buds- larkspur,

the largest astilbe

and the funny, striking blue-green Lysimachia.

I'm glad to see most of the ferns I put in last year around trees in the back have survived- I thought most were dead but quite a few are emerging again.

These pics a few weeks apart.