My Spring Garden

I've been spending some quality time in the garden these last few weeks. It was sorely needed! Well, not by *me*, but by the garden! Lots of things have overgrown their spot.

I live in a suburban area with neighbors all around. My lot is a cove lot, narrow at the front and wide at the back, but the depth of the back yard, from house to back fence, is not huge. I have made walkways throughout the back yard, dry creeks that turn to wet creeks in the rain!

This is my confederate jasmine, on an arbor by the patio. It smells wonderful!









The jasmine blossoms start out white, but slightly yellow as they age.


















Some white (Bridal Veil) astilbe also near the patio.


















Red astilbe and Lily of the Valley grow under an oak tree near the pool deck.

This year, I never got around to cutting back the liriope in this area before the new growth began...oh well.















Black Knight Buddleia (butterfly bush) grows at the west end of the pool deck. I have a love/hate relationship with this plant...I have planted it and dug it up several times! I like the blooms, but am not overly fond of the plant itself.



The arbor in the background is the entrance to the compost pile/storage area. We still need to build a gate there.










I absolutely love Oakleaf Hydrangea! This one is in the front/side yard. We just cut down the dying redbud tree that shades it, though, so I hope it contnues to thrive despite the increase in sun exposure!












Aren't the blossoms cool? Long pannicles of snow white blooms so big they have to droop a bit!










This is the front bed...near the driveway. The purple cane (Moses in a Cradle, Tradescantia) comes back each year, but not always exactly in the same place as before! The Stella D'Oro day lilies are also reliably hardy here in West Tennessee.

BTW, I layed those bricks myself...all by myself! I dug it out and poured a concrete footing, then layed 2 rows of bricks all around the beds in front of the house, using a level to keep things even and smooth (but not necessarily level!).






















I was pleased that my huechera came back this year! I wasn't sure it would survive the winter in a pot, but it did!

In the smaller pot is a real annoying plant...Chameleon plant. It is a royal pain to eradicate!!! But it has a sweet little bloom and lovely leaves...so in a pot, it is welcome. In the flower beds, it is NOT, as it is way too aggressive!
I love the pachysandra in the bed behind this bench.








I dug up my Red Hot Poker to move and divide, and decided to pot it instead of putting it back in the ground. The Million Bells actually survived the winter in that pot, so I added the Red Hot poker to it.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, before I began making drastic changes...'Gardening by Subtraction' is what I like to call it!

And just to make this a little bit sewing-related...I DID have to spend a few minutes sewing a hem into some cut-off jeans so I'd have some gardening shorts to wear!