Early May: photos of the garden

Life is creeping back into the garden. I am shocked at how well the rock garden has come to life. I truly thought most of the plants would have taken such a hit from the winter (and the roofers that stomped all over them) that they would either fail to survive or struggle at best. But boy was I wrong! So far most of the plants in the rock garden are looking as good as they did at their peak last year and they still have the summer to get growing through! The rocky little nook was brought back from the brink last year, so I didn't truly know what I was dealing with, what plants were in there and what their potential would be. Let's hope they keep going strong!

As was the case last year, here is the ONE and only tulip. Several other sets of leaves appeared through the garden that looked pretty tulip-ee, along with a few daffodil-esque leaves, but only this one sad flower emerged. It did appear to have a sister tulip that some creature decided to taste test - they did not approve of the taste but succeeded in killing the other flower shoot.

What are these little purple guys? There are only these two little plants but I wouldn't mind getting more. It is encouraging to see a splash of colour in the garden after such a depressing winter.

Finally some buds on the lilac and the pink crab apple. The lilac has yet to flower since we have lived here. It is a young looking bush, very healthy, but I don't know if or when it will start to flower. The crab apple will be getting its lovely pink flowers in a while and I can't wait!

Here is a shot of the raised beds and an overview of the yard. The beds are now filled with soil, a mix of peat moss and a variety of different composts. The tattered newspapers around them is what is left sticking out from under the beds - I mowed the grass down as low as I could, layered newspapers on the ground and covered with the soil mix. Hopefully (if all goes to plan) the grass underneath will be smothered and decompose into good stuff for the ground under the beds. And yes, the newspaper is a mess because I ran it over with the lawnmower - I get a little over excited working on the garden and rather than clear away the excess newspaper and then mow, I went straight for the mowing and now there are bits of paper all over the yard...my bad.

And who could miss the first dandelion of the year!