Spring is starting to appear

The last month or so has been pretty rough around here. All three of us have come down with some sort of cold/infection bug (and Andrew took two turns with it). The weather hasn't been overly cooperative so we didn't miss too much going on outside. It seems spring has finally started to appear though. The buds have finally broken open and leaves have started to form on most of the trees and bushes. This little guy took up residence under one of the spirea bushes for a day or so. It was a pretty chilly day and he seemed to be trying to back himself further and further into the bush to get out of the wind.

This is a mystery to me. I refer to it as "The Useless Green Plant". I'd love to identify what it is and see if it might actually bloom (or do something) if properly cared for. I'm considering digging it up after the green dies back to see if maybe it's got over-grown bulbs that need separating. Right now all it does is block out the blooming plants we planted lasted fall.

This is what we refer to as the peoni bed. Andrew's great aunt Leatrice apparently kept it meticulously cared for. At one time it was a lovely triangle shape with daffodils and tuplips around the edge and peoni plants in the center. As you can tell the triangle has gotten a bit disfigured over the years. Sweet peas have grown up wild among the peoni plants and grass and weeds grown rampant. We are seriously hoping to dig this all up this summer, split up and replant the daffodils/tulips and possibly turn this into an herb garden. I'm not sure what it will take but I think removing the bottom half of the former flagpole might be a good idea too.

I felt really bad earlier this year when I realized I had plopped my compost bin into the middle of a line of spring flowers. I was tickled when I saw that they weren't going to let a little old plastic bin stop them. It might be kind of hard to tell but there are green leaves from these flowers growing out of the grates at the bottom part of the compost bin. I guess they like the rich soil.

As spring is running about 4 weeks behind this year (this is according to the local growing experts I hear), the lilacs are just starting to make an appearance. The leaves are starting to fill in and little buds have begun to appear. If I haven't mentioned 50 times before, I am beyond ready for some warm, spring (even summer) weather to stick around. Come on 75 degrees!!