Keep On Growing

I think the plants are convinced Spring is finally here to stay and everything has just been bursting at the seams bloom-wise.   Maybe it's just my intense relief at finally experiencing warm weather but it seems to me that all the blooming things are just very prolific this year.  The trees and everything are overwhelmed with blossoms. 

The dwarf cherry tree I planted a couple years ago has really taken off this past season, gaining quite a bit in height and fullness.  The other one I had died so I need to get another.  Supposedly these are self-pollinating but they say it does do better if you have two.

The first salad greens are ready to harvest!!  I'm not sure what this most prolific one is you see there but I need to thin those to give the other greens a chance.  Yum!!!  So excited to have fresh greens again.

And can you believe it?  I actually got some green onions to start from seed this year!!  I have had the worst time in the past with growing these things but hit it lucky this year.  I sowed the seeds early enough that they went through a freeze before they sprouted and have made sure to keep them watered good.  Maybe that was the key.

And the asparagus is on it's way!!!  There's not a lot up yet but it's there!!  Can't wait for the first good batch of that too.  This is it's third year so I should be able to cut a fair amount this season.

I continue to work on the driveway flower bed, setting stones and filling in behind.  I'm also working on moving the very low growing stuff out to the new front edge.  The old log that used to form the front edge is still there, just buried now.  Hopefully it will rot and enrich the soil.   Everything is going gangbusters and is getting big enough at this point I don't have to worry about the chickens scratching stuff up.

I used to know what this shrub was called but have forgotten by now.  It's real pretty though.  I'd like to have another but when I bought this one it was the only one I had ever seen.  Maybe I can divide this one or take a cutting from it.
Edit!!!  One of my readers informed me that this is a Kerria Japonica or Japanese Rose and I had also accidentally found it in one of my gardening books late last night.  So, there you go.  There are a few different varieties but I think this is just the common one.  I still like it though.

This is a close up of the ornamental crabapple and can you see what I was trying to photograph??  Honey bees!!!!  There was quite a number of them working this tree this morning before the rain came in.  I was so happy to see so many of them.  Funny thing though, there was not a one of them on the cherry tree.
 

The trilliums are also abundant this spring.  I wish I had a couple other varieties, like the kind with white or red flower blooms,  but I guess beggars can't be choosers.  These are native and free, never have to plant a one, so I shouldn't complain.

The rain did not come in today until about 1:00 so Zuzu and I took advantage of that and got 5 more azalea bushes planted around the house.  I'm embarrassed to say that these were some azaleas that I had bought on clearance ($1.47 each) last fall and I am just now getting around to planting all of them.  They are hardy though.  They all made it through a very cold winter with me only sometimes remembering to protect them from the cold.  I think I had bought maybe 15.  It was such a good price I couldn't pass it up.  I have to plant them fairly close to the house though because the deer love them.  I did manage to get about half off them planted back in the fall and they are blooming well this spring.
Here you can see my gardening buddy Zuzu inspecting the hole for the plant.  She's very thorough.  No grub or worm goes undetected around her.  She actually does kinda help me out because, with her there often in the hole, I have to go kinda slow and therefore I don't get carried away and strain my back or anything.  We just take our time.  And I swear, just like Chigger knows the word "walk", all I have to say is "dig Zuzu!" and here she comes running!  She knows what 'dig' means.

I hope you all are getting some of this nice spring weather too!  Any planting going on in your parts?