My back yard is partly cultivated, partly wild. In the spring, it becomes so luxuriant that to keep it manicured would be a full time job. I rather enjoy its waywardness. Some of my earliest memories involve the exploration of untidy green nooks and the treasures to be found within.
The last of the forget-me-nots. They did very well this year.
The shady spots are always the ones I love best.
Hostas are at their best in early summer.
I like to see where things grow when they are left to their own habits, rather than being assigned a spot.
This star flower is a spring bulb that re-seeds itself. It’s popping up everywhere, but I welcome it.
For some reason, our yard is full of wild strawberries this year. It will be a race to see whether the birds and squirrels get them before I do!
The blooming of the yellow iris in the pond is an eagerly awaited event. “The Pond” is a grandiose name for this tiny body of water. It has a fountain which burbles charmingly, in unison with the frogs.
The yellow irises come but once a year. There are some cattails in the pond too.
The pergola is not much used, except by the birds, who adore the wisteria bower. It’s a safe place for them to nest. The wisteria never blooms, because it is too shady here, but its foliage is luxuriant.
Beloved retreat of the robins.
Of course the mosses are my favorites. This one looks like a forest seen from far above.
I think this is an amblystegium, one of the most common mosses in Ohio.
I titled this post “Green Sojourn” because the brilliant spring green remains only for a time. Later the garden will be green, yet the lushness of this moment will fade.
The oregano came roaring back. If only my thyme would be this vigorous.
The ivy has a cooler green texture, very restful.
Linnet Moss 
Oh my favourites! Vergissmeinnicht.
Had to look it up 🙂 Yes, I look forward to seeing them every year. We have white ones too.
I love the blue ones – but no I look Forward for the hyndrangea, the lilactrees and rhododenron – but i still thinking about a yellow tearose in the garden.
Yes, we have already had our lilacs and the rhododendrons are fading now. All favorite flowers!
Wow – the Rhododendron starts just right now, but there was so much rain the last weeks, i fear it’s over. But the lilacs are still there.
The scent of lilacs is so lovely. I don’t wear much perfume, but that’s one I might try, in small quantities 🙂
Thank you for sharing your beautiful back yard with us! I miss the delicate green plants and flowers that reward us in the spring after a long winter, now that I’ve moved to a more tropical climate. Your fondness for mosses makes me wonder if you have read Elizabeth Gilbert’s “The Signature of All Things,” a wonderful book that serves as an homage to the most modest of growing things.
Having grown up in Florida, I never got to experience many of these seasonal plants, which bring such rewards after the winter. The southern climes certainly have their own treasures, though. As I recall, verbena is a perennial there. And we cannot grow camellias this far north.
Yes, I have the Gilbert book and began reading it with interest, but somehow I got sidetracked into a bit of Irish-themed reading 🙂 It’s beckoning from my bedside table as I write this…
Its beautiful, I love the ‘secret garden’ vibe, the promise of something special round the corner is essential to my mind. I have a fancy to build a dry stone, iron age igloo thingy in one of my darker corners, Wonderson and his sister Goldenchild, scoffed. I’m mudlarking for suitable stones with a friend this afternoon, that’ll teach ’em.
Long live the Back garden!
Yes, the Secret Garden! I love the look of big rugged stones in the garden. My fantasy was to have a bed of ferns with massive rocks among them. The landscaper gave me these puny little rocks instead, LOL. They didn’t quite give the primitive feel I was looking for.
Beautiful!
Thanks Esther 🙂
Gorgeous! I agree..there is nothing quite like the verdent tapestry of Spring ….especially as it bursts out in contrast to the starkness of winter in these climes.
Yes, long-awaited in this case! Now we have gone from late winter straight to summer, in terms of temperatures.
Yep…us too. Today with torrential rain too ☔
All that green! I miss it sometimes, except when I think about how I used to have to mow the lawn. Lilacs and rhododendrons are very sorely missed, however.
On the wild strawberries…I once had a wild strawberry tart in Sicily…it was so unbelievably delicious. That was the first time I’d ever had them. I hope you get to them first!
Wild strawberries are worshiped in Europe, but not so much here. They are tiny, and you have to work hard to get enough to make a dish of them!
Yes, all the verdure creates endless work. But the Long Suffering Husband is the one doing it 🙂
Nice! What a man. 🙂
Indeed he is 🙂
very nice to look at on a rainy day. Thank you Linnet
: )
Well, that’s lovely.
My yard as well has a number of “wild” spaces, but that is unfortunately due to laziness rather than design, and the effect is not as good. 🙂
Thanks! Well of course I didn’t show the bits that look unattractively weedy. We have plenty 🙂
So gorgeous – I’m jealous! 😉
Many thanks!
I like your “back yard philosophy” (partly cultivated, partly wild, things growing where left to their own habits). Waywardness shouldn’t be a dirty word to real nature lovers!
Thank you! I am not sure whether the neighbors approve 🙂 But the critters do.
What a beautiful garden, has such a lovely ‘wild, semi-cultivated’ feel.
Thanks Lisa! I need to get out there and pull some weeds, but I will probably blog today instead 🙂
oh how niceeee, i love the forget-me-nots! and the wild strawberries 🙂 And it’s great spring is here, wish it had lasted longer with the blooms, we had 2-3 days of sun here and now it’s back to rain and grey sky but it’s blown all flowers away.
You certainly make me want to go out into the woods and smell the green 🙂
Smell the green–that is so true. The very scent of the air changes when all the leaves come out. I’m enjoying it while it lasts.