First garden bouquet of spring

Slowly, my weedy garden is being tamed down. I worked the entire weekend trimming, pruning, raking, planting and cleaning the yard. Someday, I should like to be surprised by a garden makeover. Okay, not really unless I have already designed it then I could "surprised". I don't like rushing into design decisions, house or garden because they must be fully thought out and mulled over. Does it fit in with the style? Are the plants invasive, okay, that may actually be the first thought. Will the plant look attractive only when in bloom or will the foliage be attractive. All the selected permanent plants must be able to stand up to verbal abuse. (Okay, maybe this one is, can I stand up to my sister's verbal abuse should the plant not meet her gardening standards.) Does the plant have a nice fragrance and so on.

My sister and I were having a "lively" discussion about what tree I was going to plant in my front yard when I landscaped it several years ago. I wanted a pink, flowering dogwood and she thought it would only look good in bloom. And, it is gorgeous in bloom. So, there we were duking it out in the nursery and I couldn't convince her that I should get a dogwood even though it was going in my yard! Just about then, I found a beautiful, redbud which did meet with her approval as it had not only beautiful purple flowers but also, beautiful heart-shaped leaves. And, it fits in perfectly with my natural, woodland-esque theme. So now every time she comes to my house, she nods at the tree and says how lovely it is. Thank god!

So even though we agree on certain plants, our gardening styles are completely different. She prefers to have a garden with trained and clipped plants and I prefer the wild, unkempt look. Err, come to think about it, that may also extend to our housekeeping styles!