moved around

I roughly tore up all the milkweed on the larger sideyard last year- it always looks kinda sickly, and no monarchs visit. I knew I wouldn't get it all and sure enough some are sprouting up again. Two also were higher up the slope among the obedient plants and turtlehead- must've come up from seed- I dug those and moved them to a blank spot against the house wall. Maybe they will do better in a different location.

The obedient plant patch is spreading- sideways into the walking path (which isn't paved yet, just grass and weeds I keep mowed short). I dug up a bunch along the edge and resituated them further down.

Also dug up some of the 'autumn joy' sedums from the front bed- giving more room to the pulmonaria I've put in that spot

Since learning that the daisy-looking plant with nice scented leaves (when you break them) is a native that feeds the pollinators, I've been rescuing the ones that come up in the lawn, moved them to a back area under a tree where I don't want yellow salvia anymore. The fleabane actually looks nice there. Here's some I put in pots to take to the plant trade, as well.

across the front

My front bed has needed a lot of cleaning up. So many weeds and young volunteer trees to pull, mulch to spread, things to trim back. My clumps of clary sage have lots of bug holes-

 But I was pleased to find, next to this baby cranesbill, a new clary sage as well! At least one of them self-seeded (even though I cut the flower stalks back to try and get a second bloom).

A few catmint have popped up here, too, next to the brunnera. Those traveled far!

Even though I only pinched back the mums once, they grew quite thick so I hope flower without flopping over too much this year.

In the other front corner by the driveway, I've weeded and mulched around the daylilies- and you can see that little pink lily is still here!

Some of the lyreleaf sage I planted under the lilac are finally looking okay.

And this one is grown really thick and lush. I think it might be one of those ajuga actually getting a foothold now- it looks very much like the lyreleaf, I won't really be sure until it blooms in spring. Feel silly not recognizing my own plant, but hey.

I'm dismayed my lilac is still apparently dying. The right half is still bare, in fact the barren branches seem to be spreading. And there's very little bug sign on the foliage this year. I'm stumped. Is it the encroachment of the black-and-blue salvia I put in the corner behind it? Did I really overdo it with leaf mulch those early winters, and it got rot down in the root crown? I just don't know.

more work today

I cleared more weeds, gathered up last years' leaf mulch (and respread it on the empty garden beds), and hauled three buckets of compost up to the front. Fed the daylilies (again, they didn't get much the first time around)

cleared up some and scattered compost over the black-and-blue salvia- no sign of emergence yet but I do see one gladiola spear coming up! and the lamb's ears on that side look particularly nice this spring

Out front I've more or less cleaned up the front perennial and flowerbed (I had to spread the work over two days). Divided a few allium clumps to spread out- I hope I haven't done this at the wrong time and ruined their chance of bloom. They stood up to the disturbance pretty well, haven't wilted much

these two are next to a tulip

Behind them you can see the fat shoots of peonies arising!

I also moved a few young columbines- they look pretty small yet!

To extend the row of older plants- it gives something to look at in the back of the bed when not much is growing yet, and then later when they're done flowering and died back, the plants in front hide the gap

I can tell now what things I do actually matter in the garden- my raised beds that didn't get composted and mulched properly in fall, the ground was hard, not all loose and soft and dark like other springs. I didn't come out and heavily mulch or cover plants against the cold (except the black-and-blue salvia and the lemon balm) and now I can see the usual mulch and leaf cover was enough for most of them. But I lost a few brunnera- here's one that did well regardless

There's only two mums showing new growth so far in the bed, and of the wild geraniums (cranesbill), one has revived, the other nothing growing. If I've lost it, that makes me sad.

Two or three of the clary sage also died, but I have enough left it's okay

My 'espresso' wild geranium in the back near the garden seems okay though

and next to it the hyssop in a container is doing great! 

I can also tell that scattering hair clippings and irish spring soap shavings was keeping the deer from eating too much of my euonymus and hostas. Because in fall I did none of that, and this winter the deer ate back so much of those shrubs against the house they look awful. I'm going to have to trim them back to reshape, and have started scattering deterrents again.

more pics later

some planted out

The alyssum- so small, but smell so sweet. I kept the white one for the garden- and one of each purple and pink as reserve against any freak cold spell. Planted the rest across the front flower bed. So small hardly can see them yet.

Also kept as reserve a few coleus cuttings 

and these in pots 

the rest went into the front bed- 'gay delight' behind the sedums and heartleaf brunnera

'main street rodeo drive' in front of columbines

A few others went into pots

Separated out the little stonecrop and planted across one edge of the bed- also doesn't look like much yet

more digging

And I made an effort to take photos this time. Found one more small heartleaf brunnera in the back and moved it to the front. The three I moved earlier are blooming- lovely airy blue flowers.

The mums are starting to sprout, I dug them all up and moved forward about a foot- hoping with more sun they won't lean and get so leggy

Dug up and moved into this bed the alliums 

 

It's starting to like something now- not just a swath of empty space. The few tulips are coming up

Sedums on one end of the bed, and cranesbill on the other-

My peonies come up weeks later than others' in the neighborhood- probably because they get shaded by the house half the day 

All the columbines grew quickly this spring!

better and better!

My camellia is blooming!

It is still small, not even my height yet, but so many flowers. I guess toughing it through the winter was fine.

Rhubarb is unfolding grand leaves. I gave it compost. Crossing fingers I've found a spot for it, where it can make it through the summer heat.

Something had been eating the young euonymus I transplanted few years ago. Deer, or rabbit. I fenced off the largest two, but the tips kept getting nipped off through the wire anyway. Then patched a loose board in the fence, and now there's new leaves everywhere. I suspect it was the rabbit.

Borage I stuck in a pot is forming buds

I wondered if the heartleaf brunnera I moved would do okay- as I kinda forced them into the holes which weren't dug quite deep enough. But they look fine. 

Two are even flowering!

Nice to see that the sweet woodruff perked up without any care from me at all- I haven't even watered it since patting onto the ground.