Before the Snow Comes

The day before the snow comes --four to seven inches are predicted on Thursday--is a good time to take stock of the yard cleanup we've managed to do in the beautiful weather we've had the last few weeks.  We were lucky to buy a house with an established lawn and flower beds.  They just need some tending to get them looking tidy again.

Here's the front yard showing the beds by the door and the deck.  

In the front yard is a heart shaped bed with red tulips planted by the previous owner in memory of her mother.  It had gotten a bit overgrown...

 ... but we've got it weeded out now.  That's the kind of tidying up we're doing.

On the College Avenue side of the house the Sumac had sent up a bunch of suckers and the lawn had died by the driveway.  

Ben cut out the suckers and is reseeding the lawn. 

Ben got rid of the grass along the metal edging strip by the perennial bed and reset it.  Getting rid of the grass in the bed has been a slow job but we hope the coming snow will moisten the ground enough to make digging it out easier.  It's been very dry here this spring, so the coming snow is quite welcome.

The bed by the driveway has been weeded out and mulched...

...and the raised beds in the back have been cleaned out and readied for planting.  The yellow flowering shrub you see is a new currant bush we just planted.  It's a native area plant so we hope it will do well.

Ben and I like to garden together but the big lifting ends up in his court.  For example, he has been resetting all the stones that line the beds.  It's a hard job but it makes a big difference.

Since this is our first spring in this house it's been fun to see what we have.  I was so pleased to find out that we have a lilac bush and also a flowering quince, two plants we had back in Maryland. (The quince is the orange/pink bush you see by the bench.)

There are many mysteries.  I know the blue flowers here are Grape Hyacinth, but are the deep purple ones Vincas?  I've never seen purple ones before.

And today I spotted this beauty by the front door.  I'll have to see if any of our neighbors know what it is.  So many things to learn!