Warmer Weather = Landscape Mania. Again.

Well, I hate to jinx anything, but it looks as though the warm weather may have come to stay.

Which is a good thing, yes.

However, my dear husband has a borderline obsession with propensity for projects. Which is why he built 3 retaining walls and landscaped three separate areas with in the first week of summer last year. Sigh.

So for the last couple weekends we've looked at the landscaping, much of which we did last summer, and decided what would stay, what would go, and what was just, well, dead. And much of it was. Dead.

Then, we made our selections and tore into it with reckless abandon. Ok, a very deliberate plan, but that doesn't sound as fun.


The dead azaleas were heartlessly torn out (they were so beautiful when they actually bloomed last year)...
And a new Hydrangeas* were lovingly added in!

Along with a couple new Rhododendrons, so Blue Fescue for accent, and my personal favorite, a lilac tree (all bonsai-ed) for a centerpiece!

Here it is! I grew up with the HEAVENLY scent of lilacs all summer in MN and one slight whiff brings me back to childhood in a split second. Mmmm.

This bush was a first anniversary gift from Michael.

Here is the final result...so now we're just waiting for everything to fill out and fill in! Hopefully it will do so quickly, because my poor back can't handle many more weekends of this!

Ok, now that I look at the pic, it's not all that impressive. But it's much more striking in person. At least I think it is. Hmmm

*for a girl raised on the frozen tundra, the sweet, southern warmth and abundance the hydrangea represents is a gardening dream come true!