This will be our second summer with the new backyard and everything is well established at this point. I thought it would be fun to track the progress of plants as they bud, bloom and leaf out. We’re having an unseasonably warm and early spring (temperatures in the 80s! in March!!) so the timing of everything seems a bit out of whack.
The witchhazel was the first thing to bloom (as usual), but it too bloomed weeks ahead of schedule. On the opposite fence, the climbing hydrangea is starting to leaf out all over, a sign that this plant is much healthier than the one it replaced last summer. That one seemed half dead on arrival and never really took off. This one already shows great signs of promise.
The small spirea doesn’t look like much, but it’s become one of my favorites in the backyard. It changes constantly throughout the season, starting off with vibrant yellow-green leaves that darken with the summer and turn a beautiful ruby red in the fall. In June, pink flowers will begin to appear and if you keep it pruned back, the plant will bloom all summer. Its shape reminds me of a non-stop firework.
The fountain is still covered up, but not for much longer at the rate our weather pattern is going. The tiny irises are the first to bloom in this section of the backyard.
2 Things @ Once 