Spring is easily my favorite time of year.  It’s glorious to get out of the house after a long winter; seeing everything come to life again is a fresh start.  I’ve been spending as much time as possible outside, transplanting a few plants, pulling weeds, and filling my empty pots.

Back when we started landscaping our steeply sloped lot, we spread a lot of limestone rock.  Since then, I’ve slowly added plants throughout, and with several years to grow, things are finally filling in.  The Russian sage tends to spread, so I pull what I don’t want and leave the rest.  Free plants are a win in my book.

Along the road frontage, I’ve tucked a mix of succulents into gaps between the big boulders.  Lamb’s ear and lavender are drought tolerant, but form big, mounding piles that cover a lot of ground for one plant.

The row of Stella de Oro daylilies are filling in along the driveway, softening the edge.  Three Royal Purple Smoke Trees have tripled in size since planting, but are slow to fill out.

For a nice welcome at the top of the driveway, a clematis sits in a pot between the two garage doors.

Depending on how it does in the planter, I’ll build a bigger trellis, but this small one works for now.

Lining the front walkway, the row of Karl Foerster grasses will soon be at eye level, creating a living fence of sorts.  The swish sound in the wind combined with the nearby lavender scent is the perfect summer calm.

This spring, while checking out plants at Lowe’s, I saw two concrete pots for $28 each and quickly loaded them in the cart.  A lilac plant adds height, with succulents and a purple sweet potato vine to fill in.  Come fall, I’ll transplant the lilac near the top of the back hill.

Off to the side of the stone path, I set a Shepard’s hook into the rock with a hanging basket of succulents for a somewhat sculptural interest.

My first plant additions are thriving, though I now wish I had added more variety,  for more height and color.

The view from the back stairs is my favorite.  What looked like this in 2013, right after adding all of the limestone:

Now looks like this:

A viburnum proudly stands nearest the stairs, with a succulent below.  I think the deer carried a few little pieces of another over, which is a happy little accident that I let grow.

Spring blooming viburnum is a great pair to the hydrangea near the deck.  Unfortunately, it had a terrible aphid problem last year that I could only fix by cutting off the new growth.

Viburnum tend to get leggy, so it worked to keep it compact, but also decreased the amount of blooms.

Off the right end of the stairs is a cut flower garden with a mix of peonies, coreopsis, daylilies, hyssop, and a honeysuckle training on an orb.

Catmint have grown so, so well that they dot throughout our property.  Soon, they’ll be covered in unruly purple blooms and the bees will love it.

Another great grower is lavender, with the bonus of the amazing smell.  Angelina stonecrop has spread into the crannies of large rocks, carrying chartreuse color all around.

We haven’t put the table back on the deck, but the lounge chairs are out.  Our kids especially love these.

Flanking the chair are (chipping) pots loaded up with purple butterfly bushes and lime green sweet potato vines.  Though they look pathetically small right now, I hope they’ll fill in as the seasons progress.