More blooms!  The blue pincushion flower in the cutting garden has one bloom and many buds about to open and the wisteria and azaleas are in full bloom.  

The majority of the dogwoods are at their peak, as graceful and beautiful as ever.  One of my favorites is not even in our yard, but hangs over the fence from the neighbor's side.  But I also love the  dogwood in the front circle. 

The weekend rain washed away much of the yellow film of pine pollen from our deck and cars, and now we await the stringy discards of the chestnut oak tree.  

Unfortunately,  our lawn looks pretty sad.  We think we'll start replacing big areas of it with shrubs, plants, and pinestraw!

Three shades of Azalea

Everything seems to be coming to life this week. Especially the mint in the herb garden - popping up in the middle of the oregano, all around and in the rosemary, and even a little in the clay pot!  Mint juleps anyone?  The hydrangeas are leafing out, and the red maple, dogwoods, and crabapple are all budding. Blooms are popping out on the azaleas - cherry red in the front circle, white and pink in the backyard.   I planted lettuce seed by the herb garden and a dozen snapdragons in the flower garden. 

Sunday sightings

My old hanging birdbath (a shallow glass bowl) cracked in two last summer, and I found this replacement on clearance this weekend.  It hangs over one of the first vinca blooms in the azalea and rhododendron bed.  The forsythia is finally beginning to bloom.  This forsythia was a tiny little sprig a couple of years ago -  a cutting from the garden of a friend of a friend.  My favorite kind of plant!  

Today in the garden

It was a beautiful day to be outdoors!   This week the lily of the valley began to bloom beneath the dogwood tree and the dianthus in the cutting garden added a few more blooms.  This is a "before" picture of the Melissa Roth rose climbing on the fence  - currently a little foliage and  a lot of thorns.  I hope the fence will be covered in blooms in May!