The Third Week Of April In The Backyard

We had the most amazing weather over the weekend.  It was gorgeous.  I went on a yard bender - the inside of my house will be glad for the forecasted rain this week.

Friday, I helped my friend plant all the babies that I had donated to her backyard.  Yes, I took pictures. Saturday morning I did Fuchsia Saturday at Fred Meyer. Our local garden center fills pots for free when you buy plants.  I got 8 big pots filled with potting soil.  I'm not sure that justified the amount I spent on plants, but who's counting.  I got all my fuchsias bought and planted, as well as some ivy geranium starts.  Cutworms be damned.  And I may have bought a couple more things.  Again, who's counting?  Later in the day, The Dad got me a load of compost.  He wheel barreled it to the back and The Girl and I got it all dumped and spread. Sunday was just more puttering.  Moving perennials, transplanting strawberries, cleaning up my compost/potting area, mowing the lawn, etc.  I'm feelin' it, but it's a good hurt.

I took some pictures in the backyard yesterday, so here we go...

I bought two Lewisia last year at the Leach Botanical Garden sale.  I had never grown them before.

I might be a little obsessed now.

This pink one is the first to bloom this year.

I'm a wee bit in love with it.

My other one is peach and has buds comin', but no color yet.

I plan on buying more colors when they have the sale again this Saturday.

Seriously, how pretty is that?!

I love it.

Up next, the dark purple lilac is blooming.  Another plant high on my list of spring favorites.
Although, mine are kinda sucking in the bloom department the last few years.
I have neighbor's who don't do a thing in their yards and their lilacs are blooming their faces off.
Go figure.

I have a big bouquet of three colors on my dining room table right now.

Love, love.

The clematis I mentioned the other day (the one I never pruned), is in full bloom.

This one is Clematis alpina Helsingborg.

Here are some shots of that whole section, including the little photo bomber.

Most of the fuchsias I bought got planted in hanging baskets, but I did stick some of the upright ones in pots and the ground.

Quite a difference from last year, when I only lost one.

This year, I only had one make it.  So far anyway.

The neighbor's rhody is officially in full bloom.

It's so amazing.

Here are some shots of that whole corner, looking from the deck and patio.

The shady area under the mallow tree is filling in.

I made some ladder trellises out of the lath from the kitchen walls over the weekend and hung them on the front of the shed.

My goal is to have the whole ugly thing covered in climbing hydrangea.

Unfortunately, I've come to learn that it may just be the slowest growing plant on the planet.

I think I planted it four or five years ago.

It's just now starting to take off good.

You can see it in the background of this picture.
It has finally reached the top.

Look at that pretty compost.

Almost makes ya wanna roll around in it.

I love my happy pot of violets.

Here's another big clump of them in the ground.

They're naughty, but I still love them.

On the other side of the tree, the shed side, my one measly clump of tulips is blooming.

Every year, fewer bloom.  I think there's only five now.

The side of the house, on the south side, has kicked it into high gear over the last few days.

The wood hyacinths are blooming.

A happy hosta.

The kids found some seeds from last year and planted them a couple weeks ago.

They did snap peas in the ground and lettuce, radishes and carrots in pots.

These are the lettuce babies.

Radishes and carrots.

They're kinda all clumped together, but that's okay, they had fun planting them.

Snap peas.

They planted a second round over the weekend.

The blueberries are loaded with flowers, so that's super exciting.
I have one on either side of the wine bottle path.

Here's a shot of the wine bottle path from the deck.

Filled pots, ready for annuals.  :)

The Girl got the daffodils in her pot all tied up, and she planted a fuchsia in it, but I still need to take them all to pick out the annuals they want.

The Kid always picks things I hate, but it's his pot, so I let him choose whatever he wants.

And last, all my potted trees are comin' along.

This is a choke cherry.

Dogwood.

A willow that I don't have room for in the ground, so I'm pruning it into a tree.
The pink on the leaves is just starting to show.
So cute.

And that's it for now out  back.

Front yard pictures up next.

Hope spring is showing its face to you folks still seeing snow.

Shameless plug alert:  

Just a little reminder that you can purchase my floral photographs in my Etsy shop.

If you see one in a post that isn't in the shop, shoot me an email and I'll list it for ya.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/RindyMae

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