Update #14

Hello!  Jason worked tirelessly the last few weekends and we are officially done with the planting.  Now we have a lot of weeding and mulching to do.  Speaking of weeds, here's the bloom of one weed you might recall:

The lilac bush is in full bloom and we got the second annual photo of Aubrey in the lilacs.  Here it is:

And here is last years, which you may recall seeing already:

The hydrangeas are leafing out, but no sign of buds yet.

Only one shasta daisy came back.  The other three never came up.  So we planted wildflowers in their place, on either side of this planter.  In the planter we put mint.

I transplanted some daylilies on either side of the walkway at the corner of the back of the house.  I read that you can transplant them any time of year.  It recommended cutting the leaves off and just transplanting the stems, but I kept the leaves on, so now they look very sad.  Hopefully they will perk up.

We've put up some toddler fencing because Aubrey was traipsing across the beds.  It works pretty well - she makes no attempt to cross the fence even though it wouldn't be too difficult. 

Clematis!  Very pleased with this, and I want to plant them everywhere.

In the hanging baskets we decided to go with portulaca.

Salvia is blooming.

Side of the house: daylilies, lilies of the valley.

The raised bed, with tomatoes (left), okra sprouting (center) and a greenish yellow creeping plant whose name I can't remember right now, but we're hoping it will grow over and down the box.  I think phlox would be a good replacement if this doesn't work - I see it everywhere around the neighborhood.

That's it for now; let me know if/when you'd like to start your garden blog! I'd be happy to help.

Update #13

It stopped raining so Aubrey and I went out for a photo shoot. So here's a garden update! Click on the pictures if you want to zoom in for a better view.

But before we get to the garden, here's a picture for Dad of regular instant pudding (as opposed to fat-free sugar-free). This is the store brand, and you will just have to trust me that the Jell-O brand was being sold adjacent to it. It was about 3 feet to the left of the fat-free sugar-free variety.

Glad we got that settled.

A garden store had astilbe for half price so we couldn't resist planting 7 more in the rock garden - now we have eleven! Two white, two red, and seven pink. Rest assured you will be seeing more of them in the coming weeks.

Aubrey is a great helper in the garden. In the above photo she was testing the sturdiness of the bird feeder (it passed). In the photo below, she's multi-tasking: moving rocks and picking dandelions. And singing "Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work I go..."

She got a sandbox (turtle, background) handed down from her friend who outgrew it. She looks forward to playing with it on the next warm, non-rainy day.

Asparagus. Note the big one just peeking through.

The clematis, about 2 feet high. It grows so fast!

Black raspberry patch, leaves starting to sprout.

Hydrangea, sprouting.

Daylilies (right) and lilies of the valley (right foreground and left side just past the curved metal thing). Everything else you see is weeds except a little columbine. I think I'd like to transplant some errant columbines from around the yard into this patch on the left. Jason I hope you are reading this.

Below, the strange bush with the flat spiny branches is on the right, leafing out. Still don't know what it is. On the left is the prickly bush that you thought might be flowering quince. It's blooming; see closeup in next photo.

Front garden. Trying to keep it weeded. Not doing too well with that.

Here's the current state of the church garden that we passed on our walk while you were here. I love watching the progress - something new practically every day.

Our garden bed with tomatoes (left 4 plants), okra (buried seeds) and purple bells (right).

Here's the bush I said might blossom while you were here - it waited until after you left. Aubrey and I had a photo in front of it last year so we decided to carry on with tradition.

Here is last year's photo.

The last few days have been great for bird sightings - I've seen lots of goldfinches at the feeder and surrounding trees and even a couple of orioles which are gorgeous. Also these rose-breasted grosbeaks.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Update #12

First update of the year! Not a whole lot happening as we just had our thaw but I think there is enough to report. Aubrey is enjoying exploring the outdoors - it's almost like the first time since she probably doesn't remember much from last year.

Grass! (Albeit dried grass from last year.)

Tulips are about six inches high. I think they might like to be divided after the leaves turn brown this summer.

A hosta.

The clematis.

Signs of life on the clematis.

The hydrangea bushes. In hindsight, maybe we shouldn't have shoveled snow on top of them.

Running up to show me a stick.

She fell down but she's still smiling.

Bubbles?

Can't wait for your visit!