Arrrgh!!!

The pear trees are in full bloom. We've had a week of warmer than normal weather, so the daffodils have almost run their course. Usually we would have their blooms into May. The forsythia is shifting from bloom to green, and the star magnolia blooms are gone.

Most of the plants that I moved into the garage for the winter have made it. I thought the shrub rose had died, but it finally began to leaf out this week. The Peace Rose, in the ground, made it through the winter, despite the fact that I didn't give it the traditional protection for our winters.

The Darwin tulips have come and gone. The yellow Appledorns decided it was too hot to stick around. I have six or eight pods of tulips that I planted a year and a half ago. I was surprised to see that the chipmunks hadn't gotten to them yet. One that has opened reminds me of a pink Oriental poppy. It has pink petals with black inside at the base of the flower.

I need to renovate the garden across the east face of the house. Dear Husband cut down the viburnum that used to spread over half the wall. Elegante Mother was complaining that she couldn't see out the windows any longer, but the kicker was that the raccoons were using the viburnum as a ladder to the roof.

I will either have to have someone come and professionally remove the stump, or we will have to work around it. I want to plant a specimen tree forward from the stump about six feet, and then fill in behind and to the sides with perennials.
I want to look at weeping cherries, or something that has a weeping shape, so that we don't risk offering the raccoons another ladder.

I have to dig up the Japanese Iris and replant them. There's a ring of green leaves, and a bare center, where the plant has died out. Poison ivy is trying to encroach, so I sprayed it today. There's a Lady's Mantle that will miss the shade of the Viburnum. The face of the house, and Elegante Mother's rooms will be warmer this summer without it's shade.

The viburnum at the end of the driveway is in bloom. It has a lovely pale pink blossom with darker pink buds, and a lovely scent. Between the hyacinths, the pear tree and the viburnum, the air is fragrant.

I sprinkled cinnamon around the roses today. A friend on the herb list told me that cinnamon is an anti-fungal and will help keep black spot at bay. I figured it was worth a try, and have started early enough this season to give it a chance to work.

I pruned back the winter savory today, and discovered that a sage plant in a wonderful terracotta planter made it though the winter. I'll have to put it on my list for regular watering. The rosemary in that same pot died, but that didn't surprise me. I have dreadful luck wintering over rosemary.

This week, I plan to cut back a tree and some honeysuckle that has encroached on my raised vegetable beds. I want spinach and lettuce and more room for tomatoes!

Now, do you see why the gardens are getting to be a bit much??