Bluebells, Daffodils and Other Spring Delights (April 2010)

April 4, 2010 - These little scillas (also called bluebells or squills - I never know which is the common name) came up in the clumps of larger perennials given to me by my friend, Rita. They are sweet and delightful little things. I see more of them coming up everyday.

I only have one of these, and I identified it from my perennial book as a puschkinia (or striped squill). According to my book it's a 'close relative of the bluebell and it's strange that it's so rarely seen'. It sprung up in a clump of fall asters, given to me by my friend. I'm curious to see if it will multiply for next spring. It's about four inches tall, about the same as the scillas.

At first I thought this was a scilla, until I noticed that there was only one flower on each stalk, as opposed to several, as the scillas have.

April 14, 2010 - My daffodils came up today. I don't know what variety they are - I bought them through mail order in a bulk pack. They are gorgeous and seem invisible to the squirrels and rabbits. They bloom for a very long time.

On April 20 I noticed that there is a white scilla hiding among the blue ones! These two came up (again as a surprize) in a little clump of daylilies that was a gift from Rita last fall.

2008 - First Summer: Getting Started

Removing the river stone and a couple of the cedars.

Planted up with some hostas.

Wonderful gift of perennials given to me by my wonderful friend, Rita.

Expanding the garden, with Rita's gifts and a trunkload of perennials from good friends, the Bells (no photo of them before planting).

Back perennial border finished for 2008.

Border built around the outside of the pool.

Little back-step garden, after the deck was rebuilt. Many of the perennials left by the former owners were returned to this bed. Others moved to better places elsewhere on the property.

2007 - When We Moved In

When we moved into our home in the late summer of 2007, this was the only garden with perennials on the property. There were some lovely plants in here (bugle flower, scabiosa, pearl everlasting, and a pair of gorgeous pasque flowers). We rebuilt this deck in 2008 and most of these plants have been moved elsewhere on the property into new beds.

This is the bed at the front of the house when we moved in.

The beginning of my back border:  That first fall, I started making a perennial bed along the back of the yard. I planted a climbing hardy rose (the Explorer series 'John Cabot', a peony, and a couple of 'Neon Blaze' spireas.  My plan was to increase it bit by bit over the next five years, so that eventually it would go across the width of the backyard.   As you can see, if you check the photos from 2009, it only took two years, thanks to friends who gave me many perennials.