Spring Has Sprung

I love Spring!  The 2 Saucer Magnoloias are in complete full bloom.  Sometimes a late freeze catches them and damaged to budding flowers, but not this year! 

The front yard tree...

The backyard tree...

I planted them about 30 years ago.  Because in a small park across the street from where I worked, I saw them for the first time (a dozen around a reflecting pool) and thought they were the most beautiful trees I had ever seen.  

I had to research to figure out what they were.  And they require some maintenance.  They grow rather twiggy on their own, and I didn't realize at the time how much effort the Park Service put into keeping the branches "open".  I do some work on them every couple of years, but even with an 8' stepladder, it is hard to get at the crowded top sprouts.

I do what I can.  But I may have an arborist visit and do better work.

The other Spring thrill for me are the daffodils.  Daffodils are wonderful!  The deer and rodents can't eat them (the bulbs are slightly toxic) and they seem to have no disease or insect problems.  They seem to live darn near forever and multiple on their own.  

The only thing I could ask for is more colors.  White/yellow/orange seems to be about all they can  do.  But that is still pretty impressive.

The early daffodils in the front box are blooming.  And there is a later-bloomer variety emerging.  So I get 2 shows in one place for longer.

The old backyard circle is blooming...  Five varieties of slightly different blooming time.  If I had it to do over again, I would have just mixed them all up so the the entire bed was blooming somewhat for months.  To make up for that, I am going to put some thin-bricks in empty spots ( I bought 60 last Fall to hold down landscaping fabric) and add random daffodils there next Fall.  Eventually, it might all look "fuller, longer".  And there are some tulips and hyacinths growing among them.

And I planted more daffodils in front last Fall.  Really late, so I wasn't sure they would grow.  But they are emerging!  

One early bloomer type is planted right around the tree.  A later bloomer was planted around the inside of the border edging.  There is a gap between them which I will mark with nylon rope around tent stakes as a reminder where to plant a 3rd kind next Fall.

And I planted more in the back yard.  I have a 10' circle where I've tried to establish insect pollinator plants for several years, but it has never worked.  So I planted a 4' circle of hyacinths in the middle and daffodils all around them.  The daffodils are up; the hyacinths will emerge later (I hope).

They don't show up really well yet.  They were the last ones I planted.  So, "last in, last up".  And while voles love hyacinth bulbs, I hoping all the inedible daffodils surrounding them will discourage foraging.

Lastly, the old established daffodils keep blooming in the "woods".  A typical patch...

There are others scaterred around...

And some old hyacinths are still surviving in one corner of the yard.  The voles haven't found them!

I do need to clean up that area, though.  Too many brambles and weedy vines.

Now I have to get some tomatoes started.  I'm running out of time.  On the other hand, I've learned that tomatoes planted outside before May just sort of "sit and sulk".  So 6 weeks of growth might work just fine.

Happy Spring flowers and a happy successful Summer gardening season to all!