A Garden Post

Well, Winter has come and gone, and I've gone a little garden crazy the past few weeks! Winter did leave a parting gift though, another Mother's Day snow storm. What is it with Mother's Day and snow around here?! Last year the storm completely flattened my massive peonies, so I never got to experience their true glory. This year we managed (just barely) keep them safe, and they're huge!! I keep having the boys stand next to them to see if they've finally topped my children... not quite yet...

Victory one for me! Victory two, all of my grape hyacinths and daffodils came up, even though my tulips were decimated. My mini rosebush came back, but I was heartbroken to find my beautiful Don Juan rose was completely and totally dead.

I will admit, I cried. Just a little bit. Until I noticed a teeny tiny green sprout...

My rose is reborn! It's sending up new stems from the roots, which I didn't kill! Hooray! I learned a lot about how I planted it incorrectly... when I bought it a sister!

This is my new white tea rose, it's called Moondance, and it will be perfect. AND I planted it correctly. :) I will have roses by my window and roses by my door! What more could a girl wish for?

Well, actually, I got a little greedy this year, I must admit... Because I planted a new itty bitty baby peony plant between my monster pink ones. That might seem like peony overkill, but when I saw burgundy peonies on SALE on my favorite bulb website, I couldn't resist!

You know me and burgundy! This weekend my boys surprised me (don't tell them I already picked it out!) with a brand new lilac bush!

It's called a Sensation, deep deep purple with white edges, isn't it fabulous?! I'm in love!!

Speaking of lilacs, remember how heartbroken I was last year that my perfectly shaped dream lilac never bloomed? I thought it needed pruning, or fertilizer, or a tree doctor... But apparently it just needed a year, because look at it this year!! It exploded with blossoms! 

We all agree that while some neighbors have bigger bushes, ours is the most perfect.
Since the tulips that the boys picked out were devoured, they got to pick new plants for the rock garden!

Stephen picked out the Hens and Chicks (and learned how they got their name!) He had his heart set on succulents from the minute we got to the garden center. Well, technically, he wanted a cactus, but I nixed that idea. Succulents were plan B. Joe picked the lovely little pink and white saxifrage, which smells like honey and I believe was his 6th "final choice". But he was absolutely, positively, 100%-no-turning-back sure this was the right one, so it came home with us.

I have discovered that I LOVE gardening! I always thought I wanted to be a lazy gardener and plant beds that I never had to worry about, but I'm learning to truly enjoy even the hard-working part. I still want perennial gardens that I don't have to re-plant every year but will get bigger and better every season, but my Mom gave me a gorgeous low blue-glazed planter for annuals that I'll re-plant with fun stuff every year. Consider me part of the gardener's club, I'm hooked! Fingers crossed that we're done with the snow for now... :)