Just a few Spring Blooms from our garden. The Black Pussywillow is really going strong but this grey and rainy day didn't make for a very good picture.

Reticulated Iris


Winter Booming Jasmine

nice!
My Mahonia bealei has a ton of bloom and smelled great when the sun shone those couple days.
First little daffodil seen.
Crocus tomassinianus is blooming but as usual, the weather is rough and beats it up and I really don't get much fun with it.
First leaves of Grecian windflowers are appearing.

Same here Sally we have tons of Crocus tomassinianus but they have been badly beaten up.

Moseyed around parts of the yard where I safely could in my current condition. Of course, nothing has been done outside for months and everything is buried in leaves and other tree debris, making most areas off limits. Found lots of hellebores here and there, including Bear's Foot Hellebore


some of the standard pinks and whites




and the mottled-leaved Helleborus FrostKiss 'Mary's White'

Some Crocuses hiding in the leaves


and some winter sown Papaver somniferum lavender bravely sprouting

Great David. And good job on the photos too as I know some of those hellebore shots are hard to get due to the downfacing flowers. I keep forgetting this thread exists. Here are some of ours.

nice, David and Jeff!

You can almost smell the Lantana in today's border.

How can you smell the Lantana?

Loved the sun today! More dirt moving as I rearrange planting beds back by the shed. I also found some stray clumps of Muscari and decided the start a new 'drift' of it near the tree line. Great thing about an older yard, you can make a big new planting at once with stuff that's grown many years and is plentiful and 'divisible.' I hope last year's Hosta planting comes up happy.

I put out two scoops of mulch today. Addie didn't help though as she was napping. I probably need another scoop to finish the pyracantha hedge.

Almost forgot some new crocus photos:

Loving the crocus, I have a few right by the driveway.
LOL, gonna be a few years before Addie can really tote barges and lift bales...

Yeah that's for sure. She loves being outside though and sometimes cries when she has to come in. Definitely a gardener in the making. She knows crocus, daffodils, and witchazel. Witchazel ends up coming out like 'witchel' though.

Jeff, sounds like Addie has great potential, unlike our Josh. I use to take the twins to the garden to help and set them to an easy chore like weeding the onions. Then bring them in for lunch and feed them fresh tomato sandwiches. It turns out he hates tomatoes. His memory is not about gardening but about the dreaded tomato sandwiches.

Just as smells can cause us to recall memories. Like Grandma's kitchen or lavender soap, I find visual stimulation can cause me to anticipate and sense an aroma.

Haha! That's hilarious. FWIW I would have hated the tomato sandwiches too. It must be an age thing though because my Dad LOVES tomato sandwiches. He always tells me of how the tomatos they have in Arizona have no flavor compared with the ones back east.

No, not an age thing, I've always loved them. I remember my GM making them for me when I was preteen. It was so long ago I thought Miracle Whip was Mayonnaise.

Tomato sandwiches are too wet for me. Maybe on toasted bread.. and i like a slice in my grilled cheese
as a kid I wanted only the very bottom slice of tomato, so no weird jelly or icky seeds. as baby of three sibs, I got it,too..
I remember my firstborn eating sliced tomatoes ONE day around age two, then refusing them for years. I think our kids just aren't hungry enough.

I just meant an age thing as a generational reference since my dad liked them too. He too has enjoyed them since youth.

I took an early season trip to valley view farm last week, where these lovely English primroses caught my eye... And my nose!

I grabbed and few and used them as a border for this new path I added along with some Corsican mint in-between the stones.

Today, I went for a little stroll around the garden to see how everything's doing after the hard winter. The recently added primroses were unfazed by the snow and a few of my other questionably evergreen/hardy plants are looking great!

I was surprised by the garden mace, which seems to have been growing through the winter. It's looking even more full and lush than it did last fall.

My "evergreen" chrysanthemum didn't get the opportunity to prove itself this winter as it got mowed down by deer, but like the mace actively grew. It's been spreading by rhizomes and sending up shoots all winter.

After two seasons of trying, I've finally managed to keep Roman chamomile alive and green through the winter! They took a little beating, but still look pretty good. By the end of this season they should spread into a nice little lawn. Oh and they smell absolutely lovely in winter: a bit less bitter/sour than in summer.

Great job Mike, I more than a little envious at your ability to see a project through.