And this:

And this:

They are all perennials I had planted last fall in hopes they would hold on through the winter and come back to life this spring. I knew these plants were not very wet tolerant, but how can you resist the end of year sales when you can grab these plants as cheap as a $1.99 a piece?  

But as is the case year after year, my wet soil never allowed them to gain their footing and now they are very, very dead. Or maybe they heaved due to the frost/thaw cycle. Either way, they are goners.

You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now but every once in a while, a plant survives against all odds. Like this Amsonia ‘Blue Ice’:

     
In fact, six of these survived the wet winter (not too mention the swarms of deer) which serves as yet another reminder to stick with what works. Or I should say, stick with what your conditions allow you to grow successfully.

Speaking of deer (and you knew I was going to go there too), don’t plant a bunch of Liriope and expect those darling creatures to ignore them:

And don’t plant heucheras right in their path and expect them to say “no thanks”:

Add a redtwig dogwood to that same equation: 

I repeatedly smacked myself upside the head as I walked into my garage, trying to determine why I make the same mistakes year after year, when I came upon my most recent plant order that arrived in the mail this week. I took a quick inventory of what I had purchased:



When all else fails, the old reliable Catmint is there with visions of better things to come:

Spiderwort doesn’t care about wet feet all winter and that is why she is allowed to stick around year after year:

I have stocked up on all sorts of Bee Balm the last year and they are all spreading as anticipated. I can already smell those delicious minty leaves:

It has gotten so bad that I am way too overjoyed at the site of soon to be boxwood blooms:

And after all of that exploration, there was some time to sit back and wait for the birds to discover my daughter’s newly constructed bird feeder (assuming the daily 125 mph winds don’t knock it down):

And yes, I’m still stalking the robins:

Danced on the kitchen table with their green painted tiny shoes and even painted a rainbow for kicks:

I can’t even describe some of the other stuff those heathens were responsible for. Let’s just say one disgusting joke involved a sock puppet, a toilet and a plunger. Need I say more?

After we all recovered from the inhumanity, we calmed things down a bit by resorting back to one of our safe go-to St. Pat’s breakfast of green bagels:   

We could feel the sense of normalcy return and all was good.

Later on, while the kids were bouncing off the walls on a sugar high and my wife was making sure the f’n leprechauns didn’t steal any valuables, I ventured outside to my happy place. Those little green bastards can TP my house, turn my milk green or even swing from the chandeliers, but they better not have touched any of my plants.

All looked OK upon further inspection, except it was damn frigid outisde and there was still a decent amount of snow lingering around. Enough already!

I did observe that some of the daffodil blooms are further along than others:        

And I jumped for joy when I saw that the bulbs I planted on a whim back in the fall, in a super soggy part of the garden, made it through:

But then again, look whose bulbs I planted in that spot

Martha knows best.

Quick aside – There is no better comedy on the radio today than Martha Stewat taking callers questions over the phone on her radio show. Her inability to relate to the “common folk” or to even try to put herself in their shoes is hilarious. I honestly believe she thinks every single one of us has a few maids and laborers at our beck and call or have access to French batards we can have flown in overnight. Genius radio. Oh yeah, she also clearly eats while she is taking these calls. Total Gangster.

And we’re back.

A few additional observations from my walk in the garden today:           
This is one of maybe five buds that has survived the deer on my Viburnum ‘Aurora’ (Maybe I should call Martha for advice):

The Dappled Willow (Salix) has managed to hide from the deer to date (and of course I just jinxed myself):

I think the Rosemary has managed to make it through the winter; a bit beaten up but still alive and kicking:

Welcome back Geranium ‘Karmina’. We expect big things in year two:

Two weeks ago the grasses were cut down and now they are covered in snow. C’mon man:

And the bulbs further along in growth and beginning to truly shield the dormant ornamental grass:

Eventually, the daffodils are in full bloom and the ornamental grass is pushed out of mind:

Another example is here where the daffodils are hiding a hydrangea that has only begun to leaf out:

When I walk up my front walkway, I don’t even notice the hydrangea:

Eventually, those bulbs are a distant memory as the sedums take center stage and hide the hole left by the now dead and gone daffodils:

And that once dormant grass is now the show-stopper:

As mentioned earlier, change in the garden can also be seen when comparing how plants look as they are in their growing stage.

The photo below shows a catmint (in front) and an astilbe (in back) in spring after they just started growing:   

A pretty cool color combo with nice contrast for a week or two.

But soon after, by early summer, the true combo appears when both are in full bloom:

After the blooms on the Catmint are spent, they are cut back by a 1/3 and the spent blooms on the Astilbe remain, still attractive and ornamental.

Even one plant can impress like mad as they change throughout the season. Take the red sedum below.

They offer much welcomed color in winter:

And look fantastic in late spring, albeit in a different color shade and much fuller:

Times they are a changin … and let’s celebrate the hell out of it.

John