Looking For My Garden

On the heels of my last post, I wanted to try to document my "garden"* better this year, to know when to expect things to bloom. My sister has done a nice job of this in the past, and so was able to tell me which are her earliest bloomers.

So today, March 21, 2006, I begin:

It is too early for any blooms in my yard, but there are, already, signs of life:

Daffodils and tulips have pushed their way up through the dirt, mulch, leaves, and weeds, to show the tips of their leaves. One set of tulips peeks through with red-tipped shoots, causing me to second-guess what they are each year. I'm on to them, finally:

An early surprise was the garlic I planted two or three years ago and apparently didn't dig all up:

My new bird feeder is up, and although I've yet to get a GREAT picture, I've taken one reasonable one of Mama Cardinal. Dad is here right now, but he's not on the feeder or in the sun, so I'll wait for another photo op for him:

And although it hardly counts as the exciting spring blooms I long for, I find that some of the plants that manage to winter over with some green are starting to perk that green back up. The evil Garlic Mustard, for one, already is perking up it's never quite dead leaves:

Along with it, our wild phlox, which similarly dies back but never really quite dies, is starting to lift it's green from wilted heaps. (While not technically an invasive plant (that I know of) it certainly spreads vigorously and it's post-blooming dead spires are not the prettiest things or easy to clear out each fall):

Last but not least, my vinca, which is an evergreen vine, is as green as ever, but showing no signs of squill peeking through YET. But one of these days I'll look and see green shoots popping up all around and will be thrilled After the vinca picture is a picture of last year's squill, which is my favorite of all the spring blooms and was, apparently, in full bloom by April 17 of last year. I'll try to get the first shoots and blooms this year.

* I put garden in quotes because garden seems to imply something kept and cared for, and mine is hardly that. My yard is more the remnants of other gardeners, long ago -- their work overgrown here, butchered there, and still managing a few spots of beauty despite my noteworthy lack of effort or assistance.