Spring Bulbs Coming Up

Back flowerbed:

 I think these are both tulips.

 Hyacinths! I had forgotten about them.

Plus a few daffodils peeking up behind them.

 By the raspberries: more tulips, maybe?

On the slope:

 Yellow and white crocuses about to bloom.

Hooray!

If you look closely, you can see a few little green shoots on the left, and on the right, between the dead pine needle fronds, one tiny little sprout with a purple tip.

These are in the shady corner, behind the shed. I'm excited to see what they are.

I also saw some daffodils coming up next to the middle garden terrace, and up in the far left corner, the alliums have started coming up as well. I decided not to risk a climb over for a picture.

Muddy slick slope + 37 weeks pregnant = painful fall very likely.

Plus, the bulbs out front by the mailbox are finally peeking up, too.

Weather-wise, this week we have traded snow for rain and hail.

I'll take it.

More Snow

They say that spring has come early all across the U.S. this year...

except for the Pacific Northwest. [sigh]

I would have to concur.

This has been our view pretty much all week.

It snows all night, most of the morning, into the afternoon.

Late afternoon it stops snowing to start raining.

Or just long enough to give us a brief glimpse of sunshine.

Then it starts all over again the next day.

My two little munchkins are loving it.

It is encouraging that it keeps melting off (mostly) between snow storms.

Mostly seems to be sticking around on lawns.

When the snow does melt, it leaves huge puddles everywhere.

Who knows when it will be dry enough to plant anything!

Tulips

...and something else that was covered up by the bag of peat moss until a few days ago.

Spring. is. coming.

Hooray!

Spring Landscaping Chores

Even a chore list is more interesting with pictures, right?
The real question is: how much of this will I able to get done 8-9 months pregnant/with a newborn?

p.s. 51 degrees today and tomorrow, back in the 30's with chance of snow later this week. Welcome to March!

1. Fill-in new flowerbed (front) with dirt and compost. (sprinkle gypsum first & spade in).

    --design plantings

    --purchase plants/shrubs + put in

  

2. Clean out/spray? thistles along wooden fence by shed.

    Prepare soil (get some from in front of deck.)

  

 Transplant raspberries along fence--including those on other side of gate

 Put in support stakes/string

3. Back flower bed

[transplant raspberries] and thoroughly weed after

--buy rose bush--hardy, scented, to fill in corner

--Move geraniums to back slope (could leave a small clump)

--Fill in Diamond holes, like the one above (grrr)

--Finish digging out/dividing irises and weeding.

--FENCE BED!!

My little mockorange (above) has had nearly every branch snapped off this winter, from our dumb dog using the flowerbed as her personal jumping off point. 

My fault for not fencing the bed last fall.

Still not at all happy with the dog. I hope it survives (the shrub, that is.)

--Buy shrubs for deck end of bed and to space throughout the bed.
--Weed cloth/mulch all
--Can begin adding annuals for color, or smaller perennials to fill-in gaps once shrubs are in place.
 

Those crocuses peeking up on the slope that I've mentioned before.

 

4. Slope
    --pooper-scoop all!
    --rake out dead grass
    --remove aspen shoots.  I've pretty much decided to take out almost every aspen shoot I find this year. I was letting a select few grow, but if they're within 6 feet of something I really care about--bushes, etc., then I'm just ripping them out.

     
**BLUEBERRIES**
--Remove any leaves/berries/debris from around bases.
--Remove competing grass, lupines, aspens, etc. within 1-2 feet

--Mulch well with pine needles from old Christmas tree

--Apply fertilizer purchased last fall.



**BLACKBERRIES**
Train vine to our side of fence.