I still haven't taken pictures - tomorrow will be rainy and overcast, which is good picture-taking weather, so I'll tackle it then.

Today I got the front yard semi cleaned up. Just about everything is coming back - even the black lace elder, which I figured was a goner after having been stomped flat by insulation guys, is bravely poking up new growth. The kniphofia is a likely casualty, though, judging by the mushiness at the base of the old leaves - I've read that they rot if they get too soggy in the crowns. And no sign of the eremurus so far, but if I remember my magazine reading correctly, they can sometimes surprise you with a late appearance. Fingers still crossed on that front.

In the back I raked up and got rid of pine needles, was greatly cheered by more crocuses (later appearances than in the front, probably due to less sun), and trenched the outline of the east bed, since that's the site of my most urgent struggle with invading weedy things. Goddamn you, creeping jenny, goddamn you forEVAR. I don't have any mulch to backfill with yet, so hopefully the trench on its own will do until my end-of-May vacation time. If I order mulch now it will just end up sitting in the driveway and stressing me out for a month because I will have no time to get to it.

I also discovered why my irises haven't been blooming: the rhizomes are under a good inch of dirt, probably due to my well-intentioned mulching. Doh. They're supposed to sit right at the surface. I suppose I should try lifting and replanting now...with only a couple inches of growth they might actually get around to blooming this year, and if they don't, well, they sure as hell aren't going to in the state they're in now.

When I piled cardboard and dirt over the lawn in the fall, I had resigned myself to sacrificing the crocuses I planted the previous year, figuring there was no way they'd make it through all that. BUT where I used yard waste bags instead of cardboard boxes to smother the grass, they have emerged victorious! I had forgotten how much of a boost it is to see flowers at the beginning of April. ♥ ♥ ♥ First picture post of the year to follow!

Otherwise, so far I see daffodils (I think), a couple of little alliums, and daylilies (sigh). I am nervous about the eremurus...had I read about their persnicketiness before buying, I don't know that I would have attempted them. Drainage is so critical an issue that if you mess it up, to quote a memorable line from one of my magazines, "they will rot faster than you can dig a hole and bury twenty bucks." And while the whole front yard is pretty sharply drained, I still eyed the puddles that came and went with the thaw with great nervousness. If they DO come up, I will do a little victory dance and swear a great deal in triumph.