Wakey, Wakey!

The garden is starting to wake from its winter slumber and guess what that means. The gardener is responding accordingly. What a mess to tackle! 

Raise your hand if this looks familiar.

As I tackle the clean up nightmare, I'm moving plants. Several that got too big last year needed better placement. The soil is a bit muddier than I prefer for such an undertaking but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? 

Here's a few plants that don't look too bad, all things considered.

Hebe 'Shamrock'

I wish it would keep that pretty pink blush all summer but alas this is its fleeting winter finery.

I finally got a halfway decent shot of an Edgeworthia blossom. Why is this plant so challenging to photograph? 

Edgeworthia crysantha 'Nanjing Gold'

Thanks to a very mild winter, we're headed for an early spring! I usually start seeing Honeysuckle buds in early May but there are actually a few already forming. 

Honeysuckle Lonicera japonica 'Halliana' 

And thanks to that mild winter, the foliage on Geranium palmatum is gorgeous! I'm really hoping it'll bloom for me, finally. I sowed the seed last winter and since it didn't bloom last summer it's going to be either a biennial or perennial. Time will tell.  

The older leaves are as flushed as the aforementioned Hebe, see?

Geranium palmatum foliage

But the new green foliage is equally captivating in its design and markings. I'm thinking that even if it doesn't ever bloom, it's an acceptable foliage plant. 

Geranium palmatum

And then with the Sobaria, we've also got a pink blush, but this time it's not on the older foliage but on the new foliage. 

Sobaria sobarifolia 

I love the bowing heads of the Euphorbias. They're fixing to bloom!

Euphorbia amygdaloides var. robbiae

Euphorbia x martinii 'Red Martin' (I think)

Crocus 

A very rare "hooded" Crocus waving to the camera (Smile)

Pulmonaria 'Reginald Kaye'

Observing deciduous plants breaking dormancy can be so delightful. It's really quite miraculous when you think about it. 

Ribes sanguinium 'Pulsborough Scarlet'

Ribes sanguinium 'Pulsborough Scarlet'

Thanks to the mild winter, all but one of my Clematis vines are budding out on their stems. Even the vitacellas and texensis species clematis that typically die back to the ground. 

Clematis 'Ernest Markham'

Ditto for the hardy Fuchsias!

Fuchsia magellianica

And, the Berberis is so bright and cheery! I love those bazillion tiny yellow leaves.

Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea'

Berberis thunbergii 'Aurea'

Finally, my daughter Beth and I went to the woods and dug up a fresh clump of native grass to pot up for our indoor cats. They love it. The things we do for our furbabies. The pot is almost too heavy to lift. I think I went a little overboard. But that's how I roll. 

"Cat grass" Yummy!

Please tell me you're seeing signs of spring in your garden too!