Blooming!

The bees are buzzing and the flowers in my yard are beginning to bloom! Spring really is here...at least for a few days! We've had a handful of days with glorious weather and the sunshine has jolted my spring flowers into bloom!
I have three of these columbines under my front window. They're about three times the size they were when I planted them a few years ago!
This is one of my new columbines that I just planted this past week.
This flower is my new-found love! Zoom in on the picture--the folds on the blooms are amazing! The structure of the bloom just is really really neat. The plant is called Leprechaun's Gold and is gorgeous! The leaves are a yellow-gold and just so pretty. Love it!
My dianthus just are starting to bloom--soon they'll be a rim of pink around the front edge of this bed.
Here is a sideways (overexposed--it was bright outside!) shot of the bed under my front window. Lots of plants still growing--I see lilies, black-eyed susans, and daisies yet to come! Oooh, and one of my hellebores is trucking along in there too! This bed is really coming along well. I think in another three years or so, it will be a mass of blooms from the late spring through summer!
Here is another view of that same bed. Isn't the rhody gorgeous?! I've been slowly and steadily pruning it back to health for the last few years. It was spindly and not too healthy when we moved in five years ago, but now it is doing great! This year I need to prune the height down a bit because it is getting too tall for the space--I'm 5'10" and the top blooms are at eye level with me!
Another view of the front of the house. See that big bush to the right of the path? My plan is to rip out the bush (it is half dead anyhow) and the groundcover and put in slate stepping stones (or something similar) and a little black metal bistro set. Wouldn't that be cute?! Our front porch is too narrow to sit on, so a little bistro set in front of it would be very handy. (Currently the porch serves as the parking zone for the children's front yard toys...they're pretty well hidden up there!)
Vinca--ahhh how I love thee! My vinca is just about done blooming for the year. It is my very favorite groundcover. I'm lucky because in my area it is a perennial and comes back again and again. I just love seeing those little purple flowers bursting into bloom at the start of spring each year!
My lone bleeding heart! This is in my backyard and I was so excited to see these two measly blooms. I thought the construction work destroyed my three bleeding hearts (the plant was dormant when construction started, so I couldn't see where to dig them out)...but apparently one survived!
I planted a couple of California poppies in my backyard this year. This is near the grass in the backyard and the plants need to be sturdy because stray soccer balls sometimes come rolling through here!

The last couple of years I've tried to be good and spend my money mostly on perennials rather than on annuals (although I did buy geraniums for my pots and some petunias for my front yard) so that I can enjoy the flowers year after year. Although I like the instant gratification of annuals, I do like looking forward to seeing my perennials pop out of the ground and it is exciting to see them get bigger each year.

Happy Gardening!