What a Difference a Week Makes

A garden tends to get better with each new year. Trees and shrubs grow larger, perennials mature, bulbs multiply and annuals increase exponentially. This is certainly true in the 12th season of my little garden here in Athens.

In truth, my garden is a random assortment of plants bought on a whim. I see something I like, buy it (a lot of it if I really like it), and figure out where to put it when I get home. Planning never really enters the picture.

Sometimes my random approach to gardening works great. More often, however, it doesn't. So I try something different.

Anyway, along with 12 years of tinkering, the exceedingly wet fall and one of the coldest winters on record the garden has been truly spectacular this spring. Here are my favorite pictures from this weekend.

You can see this same shot on my last garden post. What a difference a week makes! The Pieris japonica 'Temple Bells' (white flowers) and Anemone blanda (blue daisies) are high on my list of favorites.  Might need to rethink the orange pansies next year!

These daffodils are in the last garden post, too, from a different angle. The cherry trees blooming in the background make a huge difference. Eventually grasses and day lilies will take over. The dianthus (red) and begonias (pink) are new additions.

The same daffodils from a bit further down the path. You can see the grape hyacinths (blue spikes) are blooming a lot more than they were a week ago. I bought a bag of 50 bulbs the first year I was hear and now have billions.

And that's what's happening in the garden of...

The Crotchety Old Man