At last....

... my love has come along....

In the form of DECENT WEATHER. Yesterday was a balmy, beautiful, sun-filled 13℃ (or 55℉), and I took full advantage. I was way overdue for getting out and cleaning out the gardens.

I only did the backyard, but it by far need the most attention. Under the watchful eye of my snoopervisor...

 I chopped, pruned, and raked until I could chop, prune and rake no more.

I was ruthless with the raspberries. I long ago learned that I can't prune them too much. The cane were reaching well over the top of the fence.

They are just starting to buds, but I find a good haircut really helps them green up fast.

The lilacs buds are small, but nice an healthy. The lilac didn't get trimmed. In a few years, I may need to start pruning her, but for now I an let her fill out as she  pleases.

The roses all got a good trim too. All of them are pushing out buds, so hopefully the trim will help them concentrate on greening up fast (no pics, they just aren't that exciting yet).

I don't know if you can tell..

The Red Dwarf Columbine is covered in buds. The Crocuses out front are still under a little bit of snow, so this one may win out as the first to bloom this year.

And she multiplied! I'm thinking I might transplant the new one out to one of the front gardens, but we'll make that decision later.

With all the dead leaves and detrius out of the way, the Bleeding Heart will really take off.

Same with the Delphiniums. This is the blue one, but I also have a couple shades of purple, a white, and a pretty pink one. Delphiniums are fantastic bloomers - I really recommend them for sunny gardens.

The Shasta Daisies got a little frost bitten, but I don't think even  a nuclear blast could  eradicate them. I should probably thin mine out a bit, but it will have to wait for another day.

I'm so pleased to see the Echinacea, and other Coneflowers coming back. These beauties bring in the fancy butterflies.

After the storm, I was really worried about my Armeria - it's a small delicate plant, but I think it's going to make it.

The Candy Mountain Foxglvoe was severely frost-burned. But once I trimmed the dead stuff off,  I think there's enough healthy stuff that it will thrive. The peach foxglove doesn't appear to have come back, but I'm happy  this one is trying.

 And look how happy my little Lupins! I've got two healthy bunches of these guys.

After I was all done, Chief Garden Inspector gave everything a thorough sniff...

Lukily, I passed inspection, and now the weather is suppose to be lovely alllllllllllllllll week! Things are about to get really exciting in my little green world!