It has been a while since I’ve posted about our garden.With the arrival of warmer weather, much is going on. Bulbs are blooming, trees are leafing out, and perennials are popping up. We’ve been busy seeding, planting, mulching, fertilizing, pruning, cleaning up, etc. Spring is indeed a very busy time, even in our small city garden.

I like to start each day with a quick survey and walk to see what’s changing outside. Here is a look at early spring in our garden.

 Pure sunshine in the small courtyard! While yellow happens to be one of my favorite colors, I seldom use it inside or out. However, I made an exception here with Tete-a-Tete small yellow daffodils. Tete-a-Tetes are early bloomers, and their bright yellow color is a fabulous way to kick off spring. The little fountain finally got its spring cleaning.
 Tete-a-Tetes hold their blooms upright on sturdy stems.
 They bloom early before the Natchez crape myrtles leaf out.
 Next to the front door is this spring blooming camellia with double white flowers. I’m sorry I forgot the name. Anyone know? It is underplanted with white lilies of the valley dug from my friend Charlet’s garden.
 So much to do! We planted pansies in the urns, and relaid the pea gravel walkway. The walkway had become dingy, so we replaced the top 50% of the gravel and sand. We recycled the old gravel and sand to beds that needed better drainage.The below photo was taken right after a shower. Everything looks so green! Here the trees are just starting to leaf out.
 The bronze gate handle even got oiled. It now works much better 🙂
 A few days later, fresh green foliage on the hornbeam trees.
 The birdbath was taken out of storage, and my garden companions have returned. Hi, there, little friend!
 This time of year, the house is still shading most of the white border garden. But look at the profusion of white flowers on the skip laurel hedge. I chose skip laurels for the white border garden because of their white blooms and dark green foliage–a great backdrop for all the white flowers in this garden.
 We planted white periwinkles under the hornbeam trees two years ago. They seem to be taking off. Last year, they suffered from a fungal attack. Fingers crossed!
 Remember the Clematis Paniculata that covered this tuteur last year? I recently gave this vigorous climber a good haircut as it had grown so much. Under the tuteur I’ve planted another favorite daffodil of mine: Stainless. I love its clean, pure white flowers.