spring flowers!

tulips (a few days ago)

and now-

spring beauty 

bleeding hearts emerging 

Camellia!

For the longest time I didn't know what this flower was coming up through my spiderwort, 

but I found out this week that it's Virginia bluebell!

There's grape hyacinths in the backyard scattered here and there

and violets everywhere.

Soon I will also have lily of the valley,

Lungwort:

Lots of hellebores this year:

and that's enough pictures for now

some things

around the yard: boarage is getting big leaves and filling in thick around the mailbox spot!

Some sensitive ferns are growing in among the lilies of the valley- I don't mind how it looks mingling, but probably will have to dig/pull some ferns before they go too far. 

My first cranesbill, that seemed to have died off earlier in the year, is doing just fine now! Although still half the size of the other one.

Spiderwort blooming. Looks taller and fuller this year.

All the joe pye I hastily dug up and moved to be against the house wall on the first sideyard, survived the winter and are coming back. They did much better here than the swamp milkweed (I still haven't found more than the first three clumps to move) so I think the milkweed wasn't really thriving here.

That one orange flower came up again among the bleeding hearts and hellebores.

Mountain laurel is starting to bud! Though it doesn't look so happy in this spot- still doesn't have many more leaves. Now I'm starting to wonder should I move it yet again.

Rumex. I always like seeing this plant in spring, though later in the season it always looks ragged from the bugs. . . 

out in the yard

I had thought that ajuga was a shade plant. But this large clump that survived the removal of maple trees on my larger sideyard, has grown even bigger and is blooming great!

There's also tons of violets scattering down the hillside. I'm glad these aren't considered invasive, because I like them.

More bleeding hearts-

Found the crown of my false indigo is growing back, so I cut down its old stems. Only the larger plant, though. Smaller one closer to the hydrangea, no sign of it.

Nearby, glad to see this bit of artemesia is still alive too.

I feel like every spring I'm still looking for some as survivors, wondering if they made it through the cold. Especially when I wasn't out there mulching protectively as much as I used to.

a few spring flowers

My camellia is blooming!

First bleeding heart this season 

and some of the older hellebores look great, although I need to go out and trim off the older leaves

some flowers in the yard-

bleeding hearts

with spring beauty- 

 they are so small! 

starting to naturalize here, more in the back shaded area now

nearby the woodruff between stepping stones is flowering too

Up on the shady sideyard, lily of the valley also blooming- and spread a bit since last year

The prettiest right now is my pink clematis! It's foliage is still rather sparse on the post-

the flowers so lovely

so much spring

Picking up fallen twigs around the yard, walking around on stones above the mud, admiring the green of new growth and yanking a few weeds. My oakleaf hydrangea has been bare up until yesterday! Now unfolding fat pale leaves that from a distance look like floating tips.

Nearby, the astilbe is coming up too

and the bleeding hearts

this little one so pretty with raindrops on it

and all the columbines

On the shady sideyard, what a surprise. Stinkin' hellebores are prolific, no kidding. Look how many seedlings I found! A thick crowd, surely if I thin out and let half of these grow, at least a few will make it to maturity.

some other things

I have not given much attention to the "yard plants" this season. Putting all the effort watering and weeding and pest control on the vegetable/herb garden, the other plants just have to survive on their own. I haven't watered the coleus I planted out front (they are small and poorly, whereas the mums are doing just fine in the heat) or the salvia around trees on the lawn, or even walked through the shady side yard much. 

Last week I did take a few photos, to note: Mayapple was still around, even in the heat

Bleeding hearts were about done for, but they'll be back next spring

Summersweet has grown tall enough to almost obscure the rear neighbor's little white fence- and it has way more blooms forming than last year!

My inkberry looks poorly now, while the bayberry is doing better.

Out front around the mailbox, the borage got all wilted and icky from bugs- I smashed quite a few japanese beetles- they didn't make their way to the garden in the backyard thank goodness. Pulled up that borage and scattered some flower seed (which I also got from the friend who gave me lamb's ears and joe pye and catmint). Watered for a while, now we're having scattered thunderstorms again. Lots of borage and celosia seedlings have come up in that spot, but not the new flowers yet.

I tidied up the sedum that grows over the old cherry stump, clipping off the dead flower heads which give it a brown crown in summer. That's nicer now. Need to figure out the lawn, sigh. The seed mix I used under the crabapple tree did fine, the nice bright green grass I planted by the driveway failed in the summer heat. Now it's all clover, wiry-stemmed weed and crabgrass taking over again (yeah, I didn't get rid of that so well as I had thought, yet).