I was blown away by the responses to last week’s post about social media. Thank you to everyone who left a comment, sent an email, responded on IG or shared thoughts over at Skillshare. It seems a lot of us are a bit dissatisfied right now. Today, though, I thought I’d post something a little lighter!

violas and pansies in my cinder block raised beds

Although every single sprout is thrilling at this time of year, there’s really not too much to see yet. Even so I thought I’d begin my series of monthly garden tours this month.

I do have a lot of self-seeded pansies and violas sprouting out here, there and everywhere. Some of them overwintered and started blooming again where they left off once the snow melted.

They are so sweet and charming and I’m always amazed by the many color variations.

Matthias’ favorite is this little one that showed up in the gravel:

a tiny viola flower growing in the gravel

A few other annual plants overwintered, too. Swiss chard:

and kale:

Although I’ve had kale make it through the winter before, I’ve never had swiss chard survive. It doesn’t look that great just yet, but new leaves are coming. I think our constant snow cover this past winter helped protect the plants even when the temperatures plummeted with the polar vortex. All the more reason not to clean up the garden in the autumn.

I picked my first asparagus of the season.

With some help from a certain garden helper.

Clara the rescue dog helping in the garden

The roses have beautiful new growth.

And all of my fruit bushes and trees are looking good. My little cherry tree (a dwarf variety called Juliet) has a lot of flower buds coming and some of them opened this morning.

In addition to the cherry, I have a dwarf peach, plum, two columnar apples, a currant, a gooseberry and lots of wild strawberries. Last weekend I planted two dwarf blueberries and a dwarf raspberry, all in pots. I keep squeezing more and more into my small space.

I’m enjoying the spring bulbs (and am determined to remember to plant more this coming fall. Don’t let me forget!).

The daffodils bloomed better than ever before and the tulips are having a good year, too.

Annick commented on my last garden post that she wished I’d share a view from above. I can’t easily do that, but here’s a side view of the main part of the garden:

There are more beds on the other half of the yard, but I’ll share that half another time.

I did want to show you one more plant. The sansevieria (snake plant) I brought up to my studio to paint earlier this year (you can see the painting in this post) is FILLED with flower stalks right now:

It bloomed last summer during its vacation outside, but only sent up one stem then. It must either really love my studio or was delighted by being a model for my painting. I’m excited for the flowers to open because they smell wonderful.

That’s all for now. I’m planning on sharing a garden tour each month and if there’s anything you’d especially like to see or hear about, let me know.

If you have a garden, how’s yours coming along?

April 2021 Garden Tour