Even the late season daffodils' (poeticus and decoy) blooms have faded, before I could even get out there to take a picture. Same with the cherry tree, who looked beautiful one Saturday, and the next was making a pink mess of the sidewalk.
Next up are the irises, now waving their buds proudly above their heads. Some of the blue ones are already bloooming. These are the same ones that my neighbor gave me, and when I divided I gave some to the neighbor across the street. Quite strong smelling, their scent has now replaced the hyacinths' (my favorite!). Making a note now, though I'll probably not remember to do it, to mark the colors on the ones that I was given from other gardens so that I can divide the ones I really like in the fall.
Lamium, epimedium, hardy geraniums, foamflower, pigsqueak, ragwort, and lungwort are all blooming like crazy - they soon will be followed by tickseed, alliums, and coral bells whose buds are nearly ready to open. Not sure why my hellebores and trilliums haven't been blooming year after year - got foliage, but no flowers. Maybe they need fertilizer.
The steeper slope on the west side of the house has now been completely covered in cardboard and mulch, instead of weedy wildflowers. In the fall (or next spring, depending on how I feel about it), I will start planting perennial shrubs. Right now I have to come up with some sort of a plan so I know what I'm looking for. I don't really want anything that grows taller than 5' up in the back along the neighbor's retaining wall . I do like the beautyberries I have in the other end of the bed, but I think I may go with some red twig dogwoods which I won't have to prune for the first 3 years anyhow. Cornus 'Arctic Fire' only gets about 4' high with a 4' spread. I was thinking of interspersing those with Ilex 'Sky Pencil' which grows taller, but with only a 1' spread. I don't want a full hedge of that, though.
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