So Much to Do - So Little Time!

This has been a wonderful week in the garden - lots of work and lots of satisfaction.

All the spring bulbs are blooming, as well as my mystery plant. The camellia is dropping its blooms now as the end of its season is coming, but it is still pretty. The flowering fruit trees are all in full glory and the flowering almond is finally open. Everywhere I look perennials are poking their first leaves up.

And, I? I am still cutting back last fall's debris and raking leaves and winter trash off the beds. But it gets me up close and personal with what's going on. Like the lily pond. It's already putting up new leaves.

I need to drain it, scrub the liner and cut off all the old [very nasty old] leaves but it has started its year without waiting for me. The fish pond is larger and more shady, so it will be weeks before its lilies start to grow, but obviously the water in this one has warmed up enough - and gets enough daily sun - to kick start the process.

One huge clean-up task that I have taken on this spring is digging out several large areas of mondo grass. I love mondo grass and have used it a lot to make the edges of beds, but it can become a bully. In these areas it was once the front edge, but as the beds have expanded, it has become an island in the middle where I would prefer more flowers. So, I have been digging, and digging. One area is completely done, but the other will have to wait a bit longer. I have several packages of annual flower seeds that will go in here in the next couple of weeks.

A bit of sun helps this picture, too!

The current excitement in the garden is that Rose Marie is pregnant. That would be magnolia 'Rose Marie'. The odd looking "leaf" that I have been watching for weeks has started to open, and it's so not a leaf. Actually, there are two of them and currently they appear to be about a week apart in maturity. We planted this tree about three years ago as a stick. It's still not much more than a stick altho it has grown to nearly four feet tall and has added tiny little branches. It will be years before she is full grown, but I am thrilled that she is going to give us some blooms this year.


And, then there's my mystery plant. It bloomed spontaneously the first year we lived here (new house on undeveloped lot, so not from a prior owner) and has come back every spring. It comes up and immediately blooms, often I notice the flowers before I see that the leaves are up. It's a glossy green with almost heart-shaped leaves. The flowers are a deep yellow with very distinct leaves. It is either a perennial or a self-sewing weed, but it appears to spread by rhizomes, so I am hoping the former.

Anyone recognize it?