Etsyblogger Carnival: Gardening Plans

This week's carnival is hosted by Sweet Sallys Soaps. The choices were"

1.Tell about your gardening plans for the upcoming growing season.
2. Show me your all time favorite piece of art and why you find it inspiring.

This was a no brainer. Gardening. Why? Because we just had landscapers here this past week tearing out the old & crumbly BBQ thingy in the back, moving around the mooshed together tall grasses & mutant Black Eyed Susans. Okay, so they were not mutant. They were just doing what they do. Growing. Lots!I wish I had a recent pic of the front. And I swear I have some somewhere. The newest I could find was from 2007. Let me show you the first year after we had all the gunk torn out.
btw...gunk = gravel, stones, pebbles, 3 or 4 different kinds of bushes and random stones & brick.
The only pic of that catastrophe is not digital.

This is the first year sans gunk.


Then we added a stone border. The stones...free! Well, more like found. There were at least 3 areas in the back that were bordered by these. And very very very random areas at that.


And the "now"...everything looks tiny again. The grasses were all moved to the backyard. The Susans were split - some went to the back. The remaining bunches were moved closer to the house. The Sedum stayed put.


And this is close up on the one side to show my favorite part...and a big reason for the Susan move. Along the front I again have space to play. The flowers & grasses just got too large to plant something seasonal along the front like I could those first couple years. So now I can play with color & style every year :)


But the biggest change is out back. Gone is this "lovely" BBQ thingy with it's crumbling brick, falling stones and overgrown Ivy throughout...literally - right through the structure. Although, as a picture, it looks kind of cool. With a 5 year old & a dog playing in the backyard...not so much.

And the "now"...again, kinda tiny now. The Susans were put above and below some boulders that were in the ground along the back fence. Made for fun mowing. Hubby is quite thrilled to have these moved. The grasses will fill up the outer edges. I may change them up or add in some with color as the years pass. It also leaves room to expand down the fence line. Looking forward to that someday too.
Those of you who follow my blog (and thanks for that btw) know that were are doing lots inside right now too. More than I have yet to mention actually. It is going to be one busy summer. My hope is that when Fall comes around the dust will have settled to leave a home that does not leave me frustrated & stressed just by being there all day. *crossing fingers*

True Sign of Spring

Our weather has been a bit back and forth these past couple weeks. This is quite normal for Michigan. Frost on the car one morning, wearing shorts the next day and then back to frost again. So how do I know when it is Spring? Well, the days of warmth sure help indicate a change. So does the green grass and buds on the trees. And these flowers popping open in my front yard are a biggie.

But the biggest indicator for me. Shoes. When it is time to switch from these:

To these:

Now...it is Spring :)

Wordless Wednesday

POP!

I was going to save these for my Wordless Wednesday...but I was too geeked...my tulips popped open yesterday!! I was able to snap a few pictures this morning. The lilies will be next!

Wordless Wednesday

BlogFire: April Showers

"April showers bring May flowers..."

I sure hope so! Remember those budding tulips? Well...the rain we are having has helped them grow quite a bit. They are almost ready to bloom. I snapped a few shots yesterday morning:



And it also looks like my lilies are getting ready too:


How are your flowers coming along?

Now if only the rain wasn't falling down in 40* weather...especially when it was 75* only one day before! April weather is just schizo...near freezing in the a.m. and near 70* after school. I feel sorry for my son - all bundled up on the way to school & a warm sweaty mess coming home.