What a difference a couple of months makes! This afternoon, Mr. Endlessseeker showed me two photos he took of our backyard – one from March and one from today… Wow! Spring has arrived.
Our backyard in March, just as things began to green up… And the trees still sported their winter skeletons. Our backyard in late May as spring flowers are in full bloom mode… And the trees are fully leafed out!
Meanwhile, I ran around the yarden* today taking photos of many of the flowers that are showing off their blooms right now. It’s a beautiful snapshot in time and a riot of beautiful color!
Red yarrow is striking among the green foliage, and taking up the color mantle left vacant after the columbines went to seed. This blanket flower (Gaillardia) has an intense red color, more than the typical yellow and red one below… GaillardiaThis orange flush is butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). We try to grow a lot of this specifically for the Monarch butterflies, but it is also host to milkweed bugs, leaf beetles, milkweed weevils, and more! We have several species of Coreopsis (tickseed) in bloom right now. Along with the drooping sundrops, they brighten the yard with sunny yellow. These little purple beauties have popped up all over our lower garden on their own. Venus’ looking-glass. The spiderwort have multiplied significantly on their own and there must be a couple dozen clumps showing their purple petals right now. We have three colors of yarrow in the gardens. This pink one is particularly bright and showy. This nonnative Sweet William catch fly came in a butterfly mix and has proven to be quite popular with the insects in the garden. Our New Jersey Tea just flushed with blooms this week. This low-growing shrub is a favorite of so many of our native bees. It may not be a right fancy color, but we are thrilled to have this native Oakleaf hydrangea looking like the star of the show in the lower garden. We’ve also replaced the ornamental hydrangeas out front with these native beauties, and can’t wait to see them develop over the years to come.
Hope you are seeing spring in bloom in your space, too! Let me know what you’re seeing in your yard, gardens, and woods these days.
*yarden is a term borrowed from my friend and mentor, Kim Calhoun (@plantykim on Instagram) who learned it from her grandma. It is a mashup of yard and garden, referring to all the wild edible weeds that grow in our yards and can be harvested for food, if we choose to do that.
Endless Seeker 
your sanctuary is looking gorgeous! thanks for sharing with us dear deb. love, kim
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Thank you, my dearest mentor.