Garden days are just beginning here. We have been working on pulling the weeds and clearing the beds, prior to ordering in some new fresh compost. The Rocket snapdragons from last season are still going strong with oodles of buds and our first flowers. There are four huge clumps, red, pink and yellow, and I am delighted to have them filling in where so much was lost over the end of season heat and drought. The winter was mild and very wet and that helped so many plants revive. Yay!
Always a survivor, the hardy geraniums, or cranesbill, have little clumps in the beds and will spread willy nilly if they are happy and don't get too much competition. Every year I say I won't go nuts with new plants, and this may be the year I stick to that promise. 
Here's the mother plant or plants that I keep harvesting new plants from. In this same pot is a tiny bleeding heart, which I have high hopes for this season. I'll buy more of those since they are so sweet in the shady areas.
A clump of dianthus which I 'transplanted' from the main bed. I actually just threw it down and left it and amazingly it thrived. Note to self: buy more dianthus. 
The wonderful Hellebore which I got from my dearest friend Patsy. So exhuberant! First to bloom every year and a real harbinger of Spring. 
And next to it is the darling Maidenhair fern, also a gift from Patsy. I can't believe how thrilling it is to have these woodland beauties living in my garden.
In the far corner by the trellis are five varieties of clematis, with the earliest sprouting big fat buds. Despite a nice place to climb, they find their own growth path. These will be a light pink and white.
The star of the garden is the white dogwood. Full of flowers and new leaves coming out, I managed to reach up to snap the faces of this branch. I'm pretty sure the pink dogwood didn't make it and it was a second try tree. So we'll give a week or two more and then dig it up. Boohoo.
In the right corner of this picture is one of the blue pots we had lining the driveway. All of them were emptied of tired potting soil and will be filled with new this year, as well as new plants. Always a good time to try new plants without too much of an investment.
I left the Dutch Iris bulbs in place last season since the leaves had died down and I couldn't tell them from the weeds. So happy I did. They are so pretty.
A miracle plant, this little fern died last summer, or so I thought but here it is, thriving! I encouraged to add more ferns like this if they are this hardy. Note the spiky gumballs in the picture, the bane of the property. They are everywhere as the parent trees are our best shade producers. 
We were so disappointed with this Japanese Maple when it was planted. Spindly, wispy leaved and just ugly. But the wet winter revived its potential and now it is full and just gorgeous. Another garden miracle. I'll put something colorful in its planter for the summer.
Last week a few of our neighbors had some trees removed and mulched and I had the workers dump the chips in our yard. Dave is spreading them, and I was promised more to come in the future. Then I will fill in with some shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials, to make this a real garden. This year for sure!
By the way, we are healthy and staying put, mostly and keeping safe. I can't complain about being confined when I would in the garden anyway. Thank heaven for mail order!
