velvetpage | Progress report on the garden (Reply)

The clematis, sans petals. I think it's still very pretty.

In the foreground, we have chives, transplanted from my MIL's garden on Saturday; they're in bloom. Behind them to the left is a feverfew, donated to the garden effort by

catsarah, and behind that is the clematis. On the right, a chrysanthemum, likewise from

catsarah. There's a border of impatiens in front of all, but they're tiny. The nearly-dead stuff is tulips, and the green stalks are hyacinths.

Columbine, with the peony right behind it. The columbine is being moved next spring to the spot between the two mums, front and centre, because it's gorgeous and I need an anchor for that spot. In the meantime, it's the show-stopper of that flower bed.

My herb planter, wherein I grow anything that other gardeners tend to think is more trouble than it's worth. I figure the ones that travel via root systems can duke it out amongst themselves, and may all the best herbs win!

I don't know what this is. It grows in deep shade, bears more than a passing resemblance to a fern, and has these pretty pink flowers in late May (zone 5.) It's beautiful, and a volunteer, and has sprouted where almost nothing else will, so I'm leaving it in place until I have something better to put in there. Any idea what it is?

Hosta bed #1. It started out with four plants. One appears to be dead, and another is not too happy; the second and fourth appear just fine.

Hosta bed #2. All four of these have sprouted beautifully. I'm considering moving one of them to fill in the hole in bed #1, but I may just leave it for this year and plant something else there. There is such thing as too many hostas, and I can think of some other things I'd like.

My lily bed. These are thriving, as lilies usually do. There are a whole bunch of baby trees in there. Every few days, I go back and yank a handful of them. Given a fight between the trees and the lilies, I'm really not sure who'd win, but my backyard is shady enough without those taking root, so out they come.

And finally, from the foundation of my next-door neighbour's house, on the other side of our shared driveway. Would anyone like to lay bets that the "flower in the crannied wall" of poetic fame was a columbine?