After an unusually warm winter, during which the Charles River froze over once but has remained mostly ice-free since mid-January, the crocuses and early daffodils are blooming, and some of the other plants are beginning to emerge from the ground. Today is sunny and 70° F.
These are pictures from the front garden, which has a south-southwest exposure and consequently warms up first. I didn’t plant any fresh bulbs last fall, so the bulbs are all two or more years old. On the right side of the front garden, I planted icicle pansies last fall. The crocuses and a single daffodil are blooming, and the icicle pansies are beginning to grow and bloom again.
Left side of front garden.
Central front garden
Right side of front garden
Crocuses in front garden
Crocuses in front garden
The shade garden on the west side of the house gets sunlight about one hour a day, so it is devoted to ferns and hostas. I distributed my compost pile onto the top of this garden to raise the level to the top of the red border bricks that run along the walkway between our house and the house next door. A lot of the “compost” is chopped woody stems that are more mulch than compost. There are some signs of growth.
Shade garden
The east garden gets morning sun. Towards the front of the house, the garden is devoted to yellow daffodils and perennial sweet peas. Farther back, the garden contains six kinds of mint, which is easy to grow, and Creeping Nancy, which is still mostly green after the winter.
Front part of east garden
Back part of east garden
The back yard, which has a north-northeast exposure, is always the last to return to life in the spring. This year’s renovation plan is to replace the collapsing porch, replace the temporary plastic mesh fence (which is now five years old) with a picket fence and arbor, and replace the concrete with a small brick patio.
Back yard
