Springtime 2012 at the Lambson house

Maybe I should make this a seasonal blog...seeing as my last post was at Christmas time.

hmmmm...that's a good idea!

~Well, a LOT has happened with our house in the last 10 months~

Most of you all remember the outside as being dull, dry, boring, and FULL of weeds (hardly any grass to speak of):

(this pic actually came from our neighbor's yard...but ours looked even worse then their's last year....I promise!!!)

Here is what our grass looks like TODAY:

And here is the area between my house, and my neighbor. Can you tell which lawn is MINE? And which one is hers??? (not hard to tell...right? ha...)

And...last year I had a crazy itch to buy some plants and try to make our home look better on the outside. I started out buying a few plants in the springtime (hydrangeas, snowball, and a tree). Then, I saw such improvement in the landscape that I went back out in the fall and got another "tree", planted some bulbs, roses, and got some shrubs for the back. Since we didn't have much of a winter...they all survived nicely! Here they are...blooming away!!!

1. blue/pink Hydrangeas--my favorite plants of ALL TIME!!

2. Mohican Viburnum Tree--supposed to have berries and cute lil blossoms, and the leaves turn different colors....sounds interesting!

3. Flowering Crabtree....luscious!!!

4. 3 mini rose bushes around the mailbox...one red (middle) 2 yellow (sides) These have become some of my favorite plants. Even at over 100 degrees last year, I kept them watered and they bloomed all summer and fall last year!!!

5. Peonies- one sherbet, and one white. They have not bloomed yet, but I hope they do this year. LOVE them, too!!! (although last year, we watered our yard SO MUCH that the leaves had fungus issues...hoping not to deal w/ that again this year!!)

6. magic carpet shrubs. They change colors throughout the seasons, and have pinkish blossoms.

7. Tulips. These have a jagged edge, and they are a variety of colors. Check out the orange one...so vivid in color, and it opens up and is HUGE. I cut one to put inside, and it closes and night, and opens in the morning. So cool!!!

8. Butterfly bush. These things came w/ the house. At first, I had three of them, in one small flower bed. They were so obnoxiously large...and out of control. We took one out, and now we have 2 (the magic carpet are underneath, surrounding them). They have such a nice smell, and they are easy to maintain...but can get outta control quickly!!! But they attract the most beautiful butterflies and hummingbirds!!

9. Snowball bush- another fav of mine...let's hope there is enough branches to keep the snowball blooms off the ground!!! If you look really close...you can see a few blossoms to the right! :) (Last year, it was so wilty and droopy...but still pretty!!)

So, there you have it. My yard...full of things waiting to bloom and full of surprises this year. It will be the first year when each plant should bloom at a different rate, and at a different time. That's what I tried to do. Even though most of them bloom (okay...all of them, do...at least the ones I shared w/ you above)...they all bloom at different paces, and some bloom once, and some all season long. So...we'll see what happens!

For tomorrow...pull some weeds!!! (are they that bad????? YES!!!!)

For Tuesday...rake out old mulch, and put in new mulch. (is it THAT bad???? YES!!!!)

By Wednesday, it will look spectacular...I'm sure of it!!!