The fresh look of spring

I am so pleased to finally have the most beautiful blooms of lilacs , my very favourite flower of all time , I have waited 6 years for this tree to finally bloom , gorgeous. I have decided all of the flowers I will buy this year for my window boxes and baskets will be shades of purple .

Spring welcomed me with a batch of forget me knots , I did not plant these but the came over from my back neighbours , welcome guests and the perfect periwinkle.

The day lilies and hydrangeas of growing so nicely , and the azalea is nearly ready to bloom, I have a lot of filling in to do this year , some more hostas and some red flowering shrubs for winter interest as well as some perennial grasses .

With two male dogs it can be tough to keep a garden healthy , after using this little metal table to hold my can of stain while painting the fence I decided it would make the perfect perch for a planter of flowers , keeps them out of the dogs damaging range , as you can see lots of room of improvement here .

I was able to do a little more painting yesterday just on the trim pieces I added , but the beams must wait , they are too wet , painting them now will only bring out the preservative and mix with the paint giving it a blue aqua tinge , which equals time and effort wasted , this must wait .

I do think I will hang some baskets from the pergola ...

I painted the over hang of the post the same grey as the base of the deck , it just blends away

What a beautiful spring we are having , there are many springs and mother's days when it is bitterly cold and frost filled so I am thrilled with all this warm weather we have been having , which has given us a real head start on projects allowing for more time using the outdoor space instead of working on it .

A little progress every year , improving a home takes time for most , I am always amazed at how much more expensive all the outdoor projects are or can be.

Before:

Look how sweet , this was taken 3 years ago so Sophie was 5 years old , where does the time go?I love that ruffled bikini on her .

Before: