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Spring has Sprung

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Ok I know that Spring doesn’t officially arrive until Friday, but it sure seems like Spring outside! Even some of my plants think so!

Over the weekend and earlier today I took a walk around my tiny front yard and the backyard garden and much to my surprise I found several plants either greening up or developing leaf buds.

Several roses in both the front and backyard have some leaf buds on them and the lower branches on some are starting to green up too.

My Hydrangea in the backyard still seems lifeless (I didn’t dig down through all the leaves surrounding it so it might be showing signs of life at ground level), but the Blue one that I planted in my front garden bed last year already has several leaf buds on it. One of my hellebore’s (perhaps the only one I have left) has green leaves that appear to be full of life now too.

I don’t have any Crocus’ yet, but I believe I saw some of their grass like leaves coming up in the lawn so it won’t be long before they make an appearance, likewise my snowdrops. Other plants like my German Iris appear to have some green leaves as well … and two Dianthus that I had in a hanging basket that I forgot to take down last fall are coming back to life as well – talk about harsh conditions hanging in a basket in -20 Celsius weather and still being alive!

I’m pretty sure I’ll have a few flowers (crocus and snowdrop) my next week!

It’s been a nice March so far, but my gut tells me that even though there are clear signs of spring all around that we’ll probably get at least one more snow storm before the end of the month. Let’s hope it’s a small one. Either way it will melt fast! Anyway, that’s why I didn’t give in to start doing a bit of yard work earlier today when the urge hit me … might as well leave some of the dead leaves on the ground as extra protection against the cool night air and possible snow before the end of the month.

Are the plants in your garden or yard starting to show signs of life now too?






My Hydrangea can’t decide if it’s pink or blue

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Last year I bought a Hydrangea plant for my garden.

I think I bought it in August or September so it didn’t do anything last year except settle itself into it’s new home. I believe it’s an Endless Summer Hydrangea and it was definitely labeled as a *pink* hydrangea.

It started to bloom about two weeks ago, and much to my surprise it’s flower clusters are not pink, nor are they blue … they are bi-colored!

Confused Hydrangea - blue and pink at same time!

My Hydrangea is severely confused!

I guess I’d better decide if I really want it to be pink or blue and then get out there and amend the soil appropriately. I believe you need to add lime to the soil if you want pink Hydrangeas and Aluminum to the soil if you want blue Hydrangeas. I’ll do some research.

If you have hydrangeas, did yours ever do this? Isn’t it strange?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

Everything in the garden is growing as it should!

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It’s a beautiful day here in Toronto and I’m hoping to go outside shortly and get some gardening done. I still have to spring clean at least half of the back garden and all the roses need a trim.

With all the snow cover we had over winter I don’t believe that I lost any plants, but I should have a final tally later today. Well if my tum stops hurting long enough for me to do some work that is. My Crohn’s is acting up bad this week.The other day I went outside and took some photos of the garden. We have five established Peonies and they’re all coming up:

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Soon we’ll have beautiful peony flowers.

I expect that shortly after that we might have our first hydrangea blooms. The hydrangea that I planted in our of our backyard garden beds last year appears to be thriving:

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One of my favorite roses – Theresa Bugnet – is thriving in her planter by the front door:

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I can get away with growing Theresa in a planter since she’s hardy to zone 2 (I’m a USDA zone 5b or Canadian zone 6b). Most years we do put some burlap or another form of protection around her, but we didn’t this past winter. I’m happy that her planter had lots of snow around it for the coldest months.

I love this roses red branches. They stay red all year round, although they are most vibrant in the spring and fall.

How are your plants doing this week?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information. GTS participants remember to check in at As the Garden Grows each week so that we’ll know you made a new post!

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