Hip-hop

The Easter bunny has come and gone, though I noticed he left a few of his cousins still nibbling on my grass. My presence doesn't seem to bother them, though since I haven't been out in the back yard since about November, I don't know why it would.

When I got back from Mexico I found all the snow had melted and it was rather a shock to see all the leftover perennial foliage lying flat as a pancake. They've sprung back up now, but they're begging me to get out there, trim them back and start cleaning up those beds. All in good time. I'm still trying to get used to Daylight Savings Time.

Here's a few puny tulips popping up. I know many gardeners plant tons of them; I have about twelve. When they bloom I'll wish I had lots more, but in the fall I won't care. The scilla surprised me one morning with their beautiful blue flowers - that happened just before our last snowfall but they didn't mind.

The sight of these sent me hunting for the crocus that I naturalized in the front lawn quite a few years ago. There are fewer every year which is okay with me because unfortunately it was the yellow ones that seemed to thrive and they looked a lot like early dandelions. I can't find any this year. Maybe that's what the Easter bunny's cousins have been nibbling on. Hip hop.

Back to reality

I knew I should have put this pot away last fall. Not sure why I didn't.

This one is history too.

I should have put away the garden hoses also. I can barely see them under all the pods from the Honey Locust tree.

The wood pile is falling over, the snow blasted the green paint off that wicker chair, and yes, more seed pods all over the lower patio.

Hmm, last fall this was a twig settee, now it's a pile of sticks with an upside down birdhouse (the raccoons did it) smack in the middle of it. Okay, I'm not really very sad about all this. The blue pot was a garage sale purchase a few years ago and it came complete with a crack. I always positioned it on the pedestal with the damage toward the back. Its demise was only a matter of time. Same for the twig settee, it's been "planted" in a flower bed for 15 years, ever since it got too unstable to sit on. As for the clay pot, I do that every year, no surprises there. And the darn pods...actually I wouldn't have had the heart to post these pictures if I hadn't already started cleaning them up. The trash man took away 8 of the 55-gallon-size leaf bags full of them this morning.

Being a lazy gardener I never clean up in the fall. It's just my nature. All the grasses and plants wither away wherever they happen to grow and die. And come spring it makes for the most desolate-looking landscape. So when I get started in the garden the change is utterly amazing and I feel like I really accomplished something!

The thrill of seeing green growing things again makes it all worthwhile. This pussywillow languished in an unsuitable location for a few years and never grew more than a couple feet tall until I finally moved it to a better spot near my kitchen window. Now it's one of the first things to bud in Spring and has become a tall tree.

So back to reality, and that means back to the garden!