Beautiful, beautiful pictures! I especially love the pure white TB iris, and the Siberian iris seedlings. I think your clematis looks great (compared to mine -- I have such a hard time growing anything but Sweet Autumn clematis).

I ripped up some anemones to make room for more daylilies, and I'm afraid it's too shaded. Have any suggestions for some unusual shade plants?

Great pics Ellie.

All the clematis reacted differently during my late winter blast. On some, I lost buds but the foliage survived and on others all the new growth died completely back. On the dead looking ones I am now starting to see new growth at the bottom.

My Japanese maples still have all their dry dead leaves on them but I am starting to see new buds enlarging. My hosta are a mix of everything imagineable.

Right now, the only thing blooming here is one old fashioned geranium, dianthus Fever Hexe and some columbine - it is not a pretty spring. Thank you for letting me see your spring blooms.

Brooke

Brooke,
My wild geraniums are blooming and some red dianthus and the beautiful wild flocks. The blue ones. I have some pink ones blooming to but they aren't as pretty. my hosta's froze to the ground. Not all but most of them. Those giants I posted last year are about the worst. I guess it will take a couple of years for them to recover. I am seeing some new leaves trying to poke out on the JM's. They are rather scimpy but at least they are alive. I lost a red dogwood, I think. The Cherokee one. No sign of life there. The pinks are ok though as are the white ones.

Chris,I have no idea about the shade garden. I have Hosta's, some unusual ferns, some iris', and a couple of dls. I put them there cause I didn't have anyplace I wanted them and they bloom each year. The Bride's Halo picture above is underneath a very large red oak. I have Christmas Tree, ( hosta) Potamac Pride, Nigrescens, Nigrescens Elator and Blue Mammoth along with some hosta seedlings in that same bed. Lots of ferns and some dls.
Maybe you could do a search for shade plants. If my Hosta's don't recover, I may be doing a search too..also I have some Calla Lilies in there.
The best shade plants I have are all wild. I have the wild flower garden underneath another very large red oak..Wish I could help. Hey, most of my peonys are in the shade too..They always bloom. I have lots of buds right now although I did lose a few ( buds ) to freezing weather...Ellie

Wonderful pictures, Ellie - thank you for sharing them. That white iris seedling is quite a sight. I've had ZERO success crossing my irises so far, but I'll probably try again. I love the heirlooms.

My hosta are just showing now. I don't think I'll get bloom on my rhodies (I only have two) - it was a tough winter on them. My dogwood ought to be magnificent, though - it's covered with buds. So is my young amelanchier. (It's suckering from the roots, so I'm going to try to separate and transplant the suckers. It's a lovely plant.)

I was out taking more pictures today. Whooeee, I've got a lot of different daffodils - I hadn't really counted before!

Laurel

Great pictures Ellie. You are a beat behind me in bloom, my rhodie has been blooming for a couple of weeks now, and my native azaleas are finished, as are my siberian iris. My tall bearded iris aren't blooming much this year after being gorgeous last year. Don't have a clue as to why. My hostas are up and looking great however. We didn't get the freeze down here like you did. Thanks for sharing your blooms.
Jan

All very pretty, Ellie. You must have a huge place!
Kathy

kathy, not huge. We have 8 acres but about 4 are in cultivation. I don't know exactly but I know it's pretty big when the lawn need mowing.

Jan, all my native azaleas were ruined with the freeze we had. Some were in full bloom. I think I posted a pic or two. A couple of them were just full of buds waiting to pop but the bad weather didn't allow them to open. I have one Rhodo that is still just in bud. Not the first one open and I have a beautiful Coral colored azalea that is just blooming. It's not coral exactly, it leans more on the red side but still unusual.

Laurel, in you zone, the nasty still hadn't left yet so your Hostas probably weren't up to be bitten. The same with the Iris'. Mine were so pretty and green with lots of buds in the stalk when the bad weather hit us. If we hadn't been fooled into thinking that it was spring early, that may not have happened. I am glad you are going to get to enjoy your flowers. Post us some pic..ok?...Ellie

I noticed that you have a bunch of different clematis, just wanted to know if you had this one?
{{gwi:587319}}Florida Sieboldii?
I have seen it in magazines, and it look so different, but pretty. Im really thinking about ordering one, but I don't know anything about it.

jkunkel, I don't have that one but it sure is pretty. very unusual. I have about 8 different ones but only three are blooming right now. One doesn't have but 1 bloom on it. I am waiting for Blue Moon to bloom along with Henryi..I like both of those too, especially BM....Let me know if you get that one as I would like to know how it does...Ellie

Thanks for posting the picture of Wabash. Mine just bloomed yesterday and for the life of me I couldn't remember what it's name was. The label got ate by the lawn mower last fall and I was just sure I would get another label on it before I forgot.Wrong!!I'm to the point in my life, if it needs to be done, I have to stop what I'm doing and do it right then, or I forget. Then of course, I forget what I was doing in the first place.

YOur pictures are so very pretty. Thanks for sharing, Mona