Spring Garden 2018

Do y'all remember our Yard Work To-Do List I blogged about almost two weeks ago? Well, I'm happy to report we've completed everything on that list! We've been busy over here. :) 

One of the big things on the list was to remove the backyard pergola. It was beginning to rust and needed to come down, before it fell down on its own. 

Not sure if we'll replace the pergola or not. It's amazing how much bigger the backyard seems without it...

I should have put out my new red chair cushions and cleaned the rug before I took these pics. Oh well. :) 

I think I've shown this Bridal Wreath every spring since I've been blogging. The delicate white blooms are so pretty. Can't wait until it's in full bloom in another week or so.

Below is one of the mini bottle brush bushes we planted...

Look how pretty my Shamrock plants are! Love their white blooms! 

This was the day I put down 20 bags of mulch all by myself. I declined all offers to help because I had a very specific way I wanted to do it. We already had a good amount of mulch, so it just needed a little added to the top. I was afraid anyone else would apply too much, which would require yet another trip to the garden center for more, so I opted to do it myself by hand. :) Plus, it counted as my exercise for the day. 

Which reminds me of this famous "mom quote"...

"I could really use some help around here! No, not like that. Oh never mind, I'll just do it myself!" Ha!

You can see the Blue Plumbago we pruned in front of the bottle brush tree...

Here's a closer look. I wanted to show how far down we prune it. It's already starting to come back. Those tiny bushes to the left are the ones we just planted last fall. I'm hoping they'll really take off this summer and start to get bigger. 

BTW, that tree stump is from the pine tree we took down in the front. We're going to level it off so it can be a little seat. :) It'll probably be moved somewhere else.  

The grass hasn't completely greened up yet, and a lot of things are still dormant. It won't be long before we're mowing once a week though. 

I planted 10 of these 6" red begonias...

I find the green leaf begonias do much better in our heat, versus the copper leaf. 

I love this Chinese Fringe...

I have two fairy doors by this tree. The one to the left (the smaller one) has actually grown into the tree!

Okay, do you see that little blur in the grass below the tree and to the right? 

 Here's a close up...

 It's a bee (or wasp?) in mid-flight! It was the weirdest thing. I was just taking a pic of my backyard. Then I went inside to look at the pics and I noticed something by the tree. I thought it was a bird, then I enlarged it and turns out, it was a wasp! So funny! 

One more pic. This is the state of my red Lantana in the front yard...

I took this pic because I want to show you how fast it comes back after pruning. I'll update you in a month to let you see how green and big it is. :) Also, I'm hoping that Aztec grass in front of it will come back too. I trimmed it a little and you can see the green starting to come through, so it's looking good. 

Well, that's it for my spring garden. Hope y'all are enjoying some spring like weather wherever you are!

~Lisa