Wow. Amazing.

Beautiful! You've got some lovely roses, and seeing those crocus makes me count the days to spring!

I love your tulips! Very nice hot colors combination and enough of them to make an impact. I also grow Leucojum and I've planted them right behind my daffodils so when the daffodils are done, the leucojum starts to bloom and makes it look like the old daff foliage is flowering again. By the time the Leucojum is done, it's not long before I can remove the ripened daffodil foliage. I really enjoy Lecojum and plan on adding more in the fall.

Fantastic!!! Omg your roses!! Love what you’ve accomplished!

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA - thank you! I love the tulips so much that I dug them all up this year (they usually rot away and I refuse to continue losing them lol) they've stored very nicely in the garage. I am going to put them back in in removable pots, plus another 250 bulbs I ordered hahaha. That's such a good idea to mix it with daffodils! I never thought of that before but now I might have to shamelessly steal your idea lol.

@mazerolm_3a thank you so much! it's crazy it does not at all feel like the same garden anymore. I loooove my roses, I ended up ordering 4 for valentines day as a gift from my husband.

@mxk3 z5b_MI thank you so much! lol I also love seeing those crocuses pop up at the beginning of the season. Every time i see them I'm like "aw yes here we go!"

Kali - Here is a couple of photos of the Leucojum mixed in with some daffodils that are gone by....

@prairiemoon2 z6b MA those look amazing!!! Yup definitely going to try it myself haha. Your garden looks so neat and lush!

Kali - Not always, as everyone else does, I choose my photo angles with care. ;-)

I particularly noticed your tulips too! Love the color combination of them. I usually just pot a few up every year, and treat them as annuals. No luck whatsoever with them returning.

Also your creeping phlox caught my eye, probably because I love it so much but it never seems to last long for me. Are you putting the phlox on the rocky slope, and are you planning on doing the whole slope with it?

Nice job! Glad you are enjoying the process, and thank you for sharing with us!

:)
Dee

The only one that came back for me for years, was 'Apricot Beauty'.

PM2, you are referring to tulips, right, not phlox? Because neither one comes back for me lol!

I actually did have some success with Pink Impression tulips, but only for one successive year. After that, a bit of foliage, and the fourth year, nothing. So now it's pots for me!

:)
Dee

Yes, sorry Dee - Tulips. I've had Apricot Beauty for at least 15 years come back in the same spot.

Phlox subulata - I love. I only have one variety that continues to come back...Phlox subulata 'Emerald Blue' everything else has disappeared and I have to replace it if I want it again. I'm thinking of doing that this spring because the Emerald Blue is pale and bland and needs a little spicing up. [g]

I had Apricot Beauty tulips once.... ONCE, lol. They are beautiful and it's wonderful that they have come back so reliably for you!

I have one tiny patch of phlox sub. that comes back, and it is a very pale blue - I wonder if it is Emerald Blue? I planted it 20 or so years ago and it's the only patch that has come back (the rest died out about 17 years ago lol). It is pale but it is next to an old bulb bed, so there are grape hyacinths that bloom at the same time, and even though it's only a little patch (about a foot and a half square) I LOVE the combination of the colors of the grape hyacinths and this phlox. That little patch is one of the pleasures of spring in my garden.

:)
Dee

Sorry Dee....I didn't know I was special. lol Really, I had a whole row of tulips and that is the only one that comes back. And it's become more shady there and it was in a raised area so there is good drainage. Have no idea if any of those conditions have anything to do with it.

Yes, the Emerald Blue Phlox doesn't seem named well to me, because it really is a pale blue. I've had a purple, a white and a shocking pink and none of them are here now. That does sound like a pretty combination with the grape hyacinths.

thanks everyone for such nice comments!! I will have to look into those particular Apricot Beauty tulips you've mentioned :)

Bev - the changes you made look great! Really neat and homey, it's perfect. Oh wow well hopefully your roses didn't suffer too much and bounced back!

Thank you. They were totally flattened, along with the hostas and other plants and flowers in the bed (I was so mad)! Luckily, they bounced back like my hubby thought they would.

Bev I think you're house was charming even before - it just needed your touches to really bring it out! Nice job!

:)
Dee

Bev, looking more closely, are those actually the gutters that are painted? Interesting if so - don't think I've ever seen that before! Or, at least, never noticed if someone painted their gutters!

:)
Dee

Bev, so glad they bounced back for you! There's a part of me that wishes we could paint the exterior of our house. I really love that "New England historical blue" color haha. But since we have vinyl I don't think we could really paint it without a LOT of work or replacing it all together. We hate the color of our house, it photographs well ironically, but just looks meh. It's this really dark brown color, we joke that that dark brown vinyl must have been on sale when they built our house hahah.

I have off white vinyl and hate that. lol I'd love something dark. :-)

Kali, I feel a little kindred spirit towards you. My garden was also new from scratch four years ago (five years this coming summer). 2020 was an emotionally challenging summer, as well as my most challenging with regards to time, as well. I just LOVE seeing your heart and soul poured into the design and success of your garden through the photos. Yes, the tulips are indeed eye-catchers, but I was impressed by your crocus bulbs, too. I need more bulbs! The photos of your daylilies reminded me of my biggest lesson this year regarding daylilies, which formerly were NOT something I enjoyed. I found this year that they bloomed at a time when I desperately needed color. This year I really began to understand the daylily love people have and appreciate the beautiful layering of colors within each daylily. And, you can't beat how hard-as-nails they are, guaranteed to perform despite the greatest neglect!

After that I appreciated how easy this sumer was because of self-seeders. When I couldn't get in there to tend the garden, the self-seeders stepped up as Mother Nature's helpers and made the garden look fantastic. I am now on a mission to find self-seeders to wintersow and fill the garden--not the out-of-control types, but the look-how-cute-I-am-here-where-I-popped-up type.

Bev, I echo the sentiments that your house is VERY cute, and your garden is a wonderful improvement. I will be so excited to see pictures this summer of the blooms! The Japanese Maple is a real eye-catcher!

Amazing! Both gardens have come along so far, I love the colors and all the interest you've added to the yard.

Deanna - thank you so much for your kind words! I loooove adding bulbs in any way I can lol, for instance I even impulse bought some canna bulbs at HD today. Each year I order a couple hundred crocus (there's a great website that sells them for very cheap end of season), pick one area in the garden, and spread the whole order in that area. I'm looking forward to having them multiply each year! They have been getting washed away so I need to plant them deeper (i.e. dump more dirt on them), I highly recommend them. You have such a great point about the Day Lilies, I have really come to appreciate them - they get huge and are such a wonderful blast of color and foliage. Self-seeders are also a new favorite of mine! Columbine is one of my favorites, it spreads pretty quickly from what I have seen, I have only had it 2 seasons and it has filled out very well. Lol love your phrase of "look-how-cute-I-am-here-where-I-popped-up type". Hahah that's a great way to describe it. I'll love to see photos of yours when they come in this season.

katob - thank you!