Finally!

It's finally rained some this week. We needed it. I hope it helps those roots grow deep and strong so come summer they can get down in there and find the water. :-)

It's sunny today, so I'll try to take some new pictures after work.

It was supposed to rain today, but it hasn't...

yet. Now they're saying it will rain overnight and clear out by midday tomorrow. I hope so!

Our backyard smells like heaven for two reasons:



The pear trees are blooming.



and what's that behind that pear tree? Lilacs........



Soon we will have a profusion of money blant blooms! There were a few of these in the yard our first summer in the house, I'm assuming Mrs. Pampalone started them. They are biennials, and bloom the second year. (That's what biennial means, right?) They reseed like mad, and we have them in all sorts of places, in the beds, on the hill, it's all good.



So we have this empty spot where we used to have a Carolina Allspice. Mom doesn't think we should have taken it out, but it creeps into everything and we just didn't love it, so out it went. This lone tulip came up there this year, it must have needed the sun.





Here is what is left of the Silky Dogwood from Lisa and Guy's wedding that the tree guy accidentally cut down this winter. I'm still a little mad about that, but look - new growth! I have hope that it will someday come back and be as big and beautiful as it was before.

It's April, and dry

I had to water the beds earlier this week, we have had 12 straight days now with no rain. Steve surprised me, so I have a funny look on my face, but here I am! It is way to early in the season to be watering...and of course it's supposed to rain this weekend when our book group is coming to hike Dennings Point...grumble, grumble.



Finally - the grape hyacinths out front are catching up with the daffodils. :-) I am an impatient gardener, I tell ya.



I love the front beds right about now. So colorful! I need to add more tulips to fill in where we took out the holly bushes (trees!) last year, and to fill in on the west front corner, it doesn't look nearly as good as the eastern front corner:





This is one of my favorite spots in the backyard right now. I planted the one batch of red tulips two years ago, then added the daffodils and grape hyacinths last fall. That is our second "little white flower" shrub that is just starting to bloom there, too.



And....the azaleas are starting! Yippee!

It's too nice out to blog

The grape hyacinths on the east side of the house are in full bloom now. Still waiting for the ones in the front beds to bloom. They'll look great with the new daffodils I planted if they ever catch up!

The hosta and Steve irises are significantly bigger now!

The myrtle is blooming really well this year. I think it's because we lost a big piece of the rhododendron that used to shade this area.

I love this flowering shrub with it's petite white flowers. We actually have two of these - I don't know what they are, they were here when we bought the house. One is in full bloom now, and the other hasn't even started! I don't know why they're not blooming at the same time, but it's nice that they'll be staggered and we'll get to enjoy them even longer.

I'm so excited there are buds on the rhododendron. It had a terrible fungus last year (we saw many others in the neighborhood with the same problem), and we had to cut out big sections and spray, but it seems like it's bouncing back this year.

I am (im)patiently waiting for the azaleas to bloom! We aggressively pruned them last year, and I'm hoping they'll be phenomenol this year! I'll have to do a post when they are in full bloom and show you the before and afters.

What a difference a week or so can make!

Daffodils are blooming, as are some hyacinths.

The grape hyacinths I planted along the east side of the house last fall are starting to peek through!

These daffodils were planted by the original (and only) owner of our house, Mrs. Pampalone.

She was definitely a gardener, and when we first bought the house she stopped by one day and told Steve that these were not weeds, but primrose she had planted.

The "Steve" irises that Mom gave us last year are just starting to come up.

The hosta from Lisa and Guy's house are poking through, too.

I bet you think these are daffodil foliage, but they're not. Come back in August and I'll show you what they are!

It was so beautiful out yesterday, we sat outside last night after dinner just looking and listening, and one of our cardinal friends stopped by for a snack.