Seeing Things

The snow is gone. The buds are pushing. Our pool is dredged, lined and filled. The city is bursting with colours - daffodils, tulips, and dandelions. And this is what our backyard looks like:

Our barren garden.

There is actually a blissful strip of greenery which Steve is watering - the ditch lilies we've transplanted from beside the house. But all in all, it's pretty depressing, isn't it?

Steve and I have been looking out our kitchen window at this sad stretch of dirt for the past many weeks months, partly with despair, partly with the feeling of potential. Always with a feeling of: this is work. And the quandary of where do we even start?

So last night, I opened this picture in PowerPoint and started pasting in pictures of all the things I would love to plant back there. This is what I came up with.

Like I said - this is Powerpoint, not Photoshop.
But you get the idea, right?

Just look! Lilacs, clematis, lilies, hollyhocks, sedum, hostas, phlox, snow-in-summer, cedar. Swoon.

Of course, the yard would never look like this because all of these things bloom at different times. But isn't it a completely different view? And even if I planted all of these plants this weekend, it would be five or ten years before it looked like this, but still it is so exciting to get a visual to strive for!

And that's just one corner of the yard! Here's more:

Different view of the same corner shown with Steve in it.

The "utility" corner, which needs a shed, a path and some plantings.

We don't have the time, energy or drive to plant this entire garden in one massive onslaught. Instead, Steve and the boys will continue to putter away at the terracing (easier to see in the first picture, if you click on it), and I will gradually do the planting, starting with the larger shrubs and a tree or two.

In the meantime, I am more than happy to receive any plants or cuttings that you are willing to share from your gardens. [Read: Oh, please? Do you have a hosta that is ready to split? A peony that needs to be divided? Some sedum to spare?]

Much as I hate Ottawa winters, I will admit that I LOVE Ottawa spring and summer - so lush, so green. Mmmmm.

P.S. We are now accepting bets on when we will open the pool for the season!