things are beginning to wake up in the yard 🌱

Indiana (Erroll Garner) youtu.be/nOw6YsJ3SXA

Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), a very vigorous native plant that has self-seeded all over my yard. I counted 18 bees and wasps on this one plant and I probably missed a few… it’s also a host plant for the summer azure butterfly, and I see more of those every year. 🌱

Sabatia kennedyana update— more blooms and a cool longhorn beetle. 🌱 #invertebrates

Plymouth rose-gentian (Sabatia kennedyana) is new to the garden this year— this is its first bloom. Native to coastal North America from Nova Scotia to South Carolina. 🌱

This month the most prominent plant in our yard is butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa), almost all of it self-seeded. I’ve been letting its seedlings grow wherever they pop up, and now there are at least 10 of them in bloom in various places in the yard. 🌱

Blue-eyed grass— I can’t think of any plant more beautiful 🌱

The best. 🙏🏼 youtu.be/sDqIsuIpVy4?...

Siberian iris— so intense 🌱

Cistus “McGuire’s Gold”— its leaves may be a little garish, but I like the flowers, and the way the fallen petals look like little hearts. 🌱

Our little chinotto tree (Citrus myrtifolia) is putting on quite a show this year 🌱

Same redbud, new leaves 🌱

This young volunteer redbud flowered for the first time this year— producing only these two flowers. I find trees and shrubs with a few scattered blooms to be just as beautiful in their own way as a plant covered in blooms. 🌱

Lots of blooms on the pawpaw trees— maybe this will be the year we get some fruit 🌱

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica), a beautiful and reliable spring ephemeral 🌱

Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium reptans), a native plant that has struggled a bit in the ground for me but seems very happy in a container. 🌱

New growth on irises— amazing colors 🌱

Winter jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum) 🌱

Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) looking nice in the ice 🌱

Aloe update— the blooms have reached the top of the spike, and the ones on the bottom are dropping off. It’s been fun watching this progression. 🌱

An aloe plant putting on a show 🌱

Rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium virgatum)— a North American native alternative to the exotic invasive burning bush (Euonymus alatus) 🌱

Some beautiful turkey-tail mushrooms growing in the backyard 🌱

Heuchera americana “Dale’s Strain” — a long-lived, beautifully variegated selection 🌱

Rosa chinensis “Spice,” unfazed by freezing temperatures 🌱

Oakleaf hydrangea in the morning sun 🌱

Malvaviscus “Big Momma,” a hybrid wax mallow with edible leaves, flowers and (if all goes well) eventually fruit 🌱

This mandevilla just came inside for the winter— I like its sunny yellow center 🌱

Some amazing fall color from Toxicodendron radicans (poison ivy) 🌱

Brought a little color and fragrance inside— Osmanthus fragrans and Danae racemosa 🌱

Nice little citrus harvest..Meyer lemons, blood oranges, key limes, calamondins 🌱

An unexpected rebloom from a tradescantia— I think this variety is called “Ocean Blue” 🌱

Eupatorium capillifolium, aka dogfennel— a very common wild plant in my part of world and often considered a weed. I’ve let a couple of volunteers stay in my beds and have been trimming them back every now and then to keep them 2-3 feet high— pretty pleased with the results! 🌱

The beautiful, intricate, slightly bizarre flowers of Privet-leaved snakeroot (Ageratina ligustrina) 🌱

Abutilon megapotamicum “Little Imp” 🌱

Butcher’s broom, Ruscus aculeatus, looking festive (and lethal) 🌱

My favorite camellia: Camellia sasanqua “Setsugekka” 🌱

I belong to the Ivan Drago school of gardening 🌱

Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia)— radiant in the fall 🌱

Ajania pacifica, Santolina chamaecyparissus, Echinacea purpurea— enjoying these colors 🌱