I really enjoyed your pics. Isn't it so nice to see things popping up, love the crocus. I have one area of my yard where one variety of daff's are ready to pop open, they might bloom today.

Thanks, my crocuses and early daffodils are just beginning to bloom because I'm on a north-facing slope. Many of my hardy perennials haven't even begun to stir yet.

BTW I probably should have included a photo of how my garden looked last fall:

Wow, looks great! I really like your terraces, nice use of space.

Here in Wisconsin I can't even see my garden yet.

I love your garden! How surprising that your fatsias stayed green. I'm sooo jealous.

Thanks turquoise & datdog--

My garden is on a hill and the terraces were there when my partner and I bought the property about 7 years ago. The terraces make the space easier to use but they were done at least 20 years ago, not very professionally, and the landscape timbers are sagging and rotting. I'm dreading the day in the not-too-distant future when they will need to be replaced! BTW I grew up and first learned to garden in upstate New York, and I don't miss those long winters one bit!

Datdog, if you're in a solid zone 7 you should be able to grow fatsias. Mine have taken single digits (6 & 7 degrees) without leaf damage. They are generally rated as hardy to zone 8 but they are tougher than people think. In zone 7 they do need to be in a fairly sheltered location, mulched well in the winter and should be placed where they won't receive direct sun in winter. Being in the city, I'm fortunate to have some buffering against the really cold temperatures because of the urban heat island--we haven't had temperatures below zero since 1994. But I also know people who live outside the city and have even bigger fatsias than mine.

Johnnieb- I'm only in zone 7 in my dreams. It's more like zone 6, sadly. When I moved (actually moved from your neck of the woods about six years ago)here I was told we were zone 7. Once the reality set in I didn't have the heart to change it. I will say that this is the first winter where it's actually been a solid 7 as all of my figs survived without any type of protection so I should have an early crop of figs.