I had planned on this being a much more focused and well-written post.  I had blocked out plenty of time late afternoon and early evening today to write, edit, re-edit, re-re-edit, and so on.  But then this little guy (gal?) showed up and all my plans went out the window.

I mean, that puppy needs some cuddling, am I right?  We found the little sweetie with his mom at the back of our property while on a walk with Blaze and Beau.  Mama dog looked like one of our neighbor’s Great Pyrenees; a call confirmed that it was, and we learned this puppy likes to follow his mama as she goes out on adventures.  Unfortunately, the neighbor wanted them both back, so we didn’t get to keep the puppy.  Oh well, I got a little bit of cuddle time without the work!

Spring is officially here, and while we’re starting to have warmer days, I still have awhile to wait before the garden fully awakens.  I know this because I’ve been compulsively looking through old pictures in my phone to remember when exactly things start greening up.  (Hmmm…April 9th was when I planted those azaleas, and the grass was green, but the trees didn’t really have leaves yet…)  If you haven’t been able to tell from my previous posts, I’m really excited for spring this year — its the first time I’ve had perennials other than hosta and astilbe to watch emerge from the ground!

Kansas isn’t exactly known as evergreen country (though I’m trying to change that in my garden), so  pretty much everything looks brown and dead in the winter.  I am so ready to see green when I look out the back windows!  Thankfully, through what can only be called dumb luck, I planted some early emerging perennials last year.  Walks in the garden over the past few weeks have been a blast as I’ve started to notice little specks of green.  Here’s what has poked up through the mulch and leaves in March:

(Downside to starting this blog in the middle of winter — I don’t have great pictures of a lot of these perennials to show you what they look like at their peak.  You’ll have to use your imagination and/or Google.)

Crocus — I planted a few patches of this perennial bulb last fall so I would have some early blooms.  I have not been disappointed!  I first noticed the tiny green blades in late January, and they began blooming in early March.  The first few days were just a bloom here and there, but over the last week the patches have become clumps of beautiful purple flowers.  I can only imagine what a carpet of these would look like.  I know what bulbs I’ll be planting by the hundreds this fall!

Iris — I have a few patches of iris that were scattered among the underbrush when we moved in, and I honestly haven’t done anything with them. I figured it was too shady for them to bloom, but still welcomed the green foliage in early spring.   Then, out of nowhere, one actually bloomed last year.  It was beautiful!  Now if I can just figure out how to get them to bloom every year…

Lupine — I didn’t get a bloom on this plant last year, but I’m not sure if it was because I planted it after its flowering time or it doesn’t get enough sun under the trees.  From pictures I’ve seen of Lupine blooms, though, they are amazing.  Either way, I love this plant for its early-emerging cool foliage!

Columbine — As much as I love Columbine, there’s a good chance mine might not survive with the black walnut trees.  Oh well, I’ll take them while I can get them.  I have a few plants, and they all came up super early — a welcome sight at the beginning of March!

Delphinium — Only one of two delphiniums I planted has emerged…I’m thinking the other may be a garden casualty as I’ve not seen anything poking up next to its marker yet.  If this one lives to bloom, though, it will be worth it.

Bee Balm —  I figure if I want to try a sun-loving plant at the edge of my woodland garden, it’s best to buy it on the cheap.   A number of perennials I added last year were clearance finds, and this Bee Balm was one of those deals.  Looks like it made it through the winter; now let’s see if it can produce its beautiful pink/purple blooms that pollinators love on a limited amount of sunshine.

Meadow Sage (salvia) — Another clearance find for the edge of the garden that gets a couple of hours of sunshine each day.  I grabbed a few, and they all seem to have overwintered just fine.

Bleeding Heart (dicentra) — Okay, technically I just purchased this plant last week, so I’ve not been watching it grow.  But, dicentra is known to emerge and bloom early, so I’m adding it to my list.

Daylily — I don’t have a daylily in my garden…yet.  My plan is to steal a division from my mom’s garden this year, plant it in the sunniest spot in my shade garden, and enjoy its early foliage next year.

One thing I’m going to make sure to do this year is to take pictures of each perennial as it emerges and blooms.  I think it will be super helpful to be able to look back and see what is happening in the garden when.  I suppose I could write it in a notebook or calendar, but there’s just something extra-wonderful about having pictures to enjoy in the dead of winter. Plus, I’ll have “peak/bloom” pictures to share on the blog instead of telling you to use your imagination.

April is just around the corner, and that means the start of gardening season is almost here!  What plants are waking up in your garden?