...and the Rain Continues...

It has been raining here for a week. No, not constantly, but very nearly. We were lucky to get most of our new plants for the year put in before all of this started. Beo got his prairie put in during a lull late last week. Everything is getting a good soaking. I can almost feel the plants soaking it all in, and I just know that everything will burst with growth when the sun returns. The front beds are filling in nicely, thanks in large part to the Yarrow that we put in early last year. That stuff is just taking off. It blooms all through the summer, and should be gorgeous this year.

My sister got me two of my favorite native plants for Mother's Day. I got them into the ground today during another pause in the drizzle. The first is a lovely white trillium, which we saw in abundance during my visit last summer to her at a Nature Conservancy preserve she was researching at in the Northern part of the state. I'll try to get pictures when it (hopefully) bounces back from it's transplant. The other is a jack-in-the-pulpit. I almost feel guilty about how much I love this plant. We were lucky enough to spot one on that same trip last summer, and it meant a lot to me that my sister found one for sale at the Farmer's Market and got it for me. I think it will do really well in our shade bed that we finally prepped and filled a couple of weeks ago now. I moved our native Aster from it's spot to make room, as I think the Aster can take a little more sun, and I wanted to put the jack-in-the-pulpit in a prominent spot. It's always hard for me to gauge how many plants to put in to allow for growth, while wanting it to look full now. I think the shade bed will be perfect next year. This year it will be a bit sparse but at least it's filled. Last year it was only the native aster and native wood poppies. Now it's just a matter of waiting for that sun!