What has been happening in the garden......

..........I spent many, many hours outside last week doing a lot of raking and different types of clean-up work. I chased a few butterflies and took a few pictures..........

 Three different types of butterflies were visible at the same time but this swallowtail is the only one that would sit still long enough to be photographed.

For weeks now the azaleas have been blooming. They are on their last leg now and I had forgotten to take pictures earlier.

 

That pesky water hose seems to sneak into every outdoor post!

These parlor maples have had some lanterns swinging lately.  I took two of these out of pots and put them into the ground. Hopefully, they will receive more water and do better. I think the design of the lantern is fascinating!

Most of my rose bushes have had at least a few roses off and on all winter.

Back in the "woods" area these macho ferns have really decided to spread. They don't call these macho for nothing!  They are HUGE!  I continue to pull some out to keep them in clumps with walk- ways around them. 

Back here is where I spent most of my time last week - raking up leaves and small debris and pulling up baby camphor trees like those you can see here and picking up air potatoes. The purple chair got a clorox bath.

Some of the air potatoes. Most of them were on my neighbor's side. Everyone of these represents a vine of up to about 35 feet if left to sprout! It is as bad or worse than kudzu. 

After getting everything cleaned I spread 12 bags of mini pine bark, mostly to define the walkways.

There is a butterfly here too but he is hard to see. This croscosmia plant has been blooming for a long time. After it quits blooming it will totally disappear until next winter.

 

 Just to the left of the last picture near the Toad Abode and Garden Gnome area.  I still have some fine-tuning to do here and will show more later.

Another thing I did last week was to repaint this little low bench.  I notice in the picture that I need to work on the "t" some more - it is plant not plan.

Most people don't want this spider wort in their gardens because they are usually so invasive but they don't cause any trouble in mine. And not very many things are invasive here except for lots of weeds. That shows what difficult growing conditions I have! But weeds will grow anywhere!!

Showing a part of one of my two raised beds.  

I will finish with this rose - Clair Matin

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It has been a wet, stormy day today or I would have been out there working and playing!