Time To Play, 'What Survived Winter?'

 With our landscaping, that is.

After all the snow we got that hung around WAY too long, I was sure some of our plants wouldn't make it.

And yeah, sure enough, the little chocolate mint plant by the back yard hose bib failed to come up this year, and the big Curly Willow tree in the chicken yard is a goner. The mint I planted when we moved in 10+ years ago, and the Curly Willow from starts brought from the old house. Two rose bushes out front also succumbed to winter.

But all in all, I'm pleased that everything else is alive and kicking, even if some got damaged.

The broom plant in the front yard had a giant snow wad burying it for months, and even though I can see dead parts that need trimming out, the tough little bugger made it.

Broom smells like candy and I love it, as do the bees.

Got some on my desk even now!

Alongside the broom plant, mixed in with other volunteers are some volunteer raspberrys, I feel bad because I always forget they are there.

But yesterday we got a tiny harvest!

Next to the raspberries, the hops I planted for fun are doing their annual climb up the support for the power pole.

And the apple tree out front (leaning a bit because it takes the brunt of our Nevada windstorms) also has a respectable apple crop coming in.

I think they are Macintosh. It's produced apples before, but never to the point of us being able to harvest them.

Another volunteer that made it through winter...

Sadly, I've seen none of my pretty blanket flowers that reseed themselves every year, nor any hollyhocks or gladiolas. No tulips or muscari, but a couple of daffodils popped up in spring.

Out back, my serviceberry plant has a surprise bumper crop! I plan on making jam or jelly with them if I have enough.

In the chicken yard, my Satsuma plum tree is producing fruit for the first time since it was planted in 2015. I was worrying about it, even though they promised it was a self-pollinating variety. But darned if it isn't going nuts with fruit! Today I thinned some of them out, the chickens waiting below were VERY disappointed in the hard little green things I dropped.

Also fruiting out back is the Bartlett pear, so far doing better than it has before...

Speaking of fruit, our henfruit crop continues, even if some of the hens cheat a bit a gift us with tiny eggs...

These tiny eggs are fully formed, just extra-small. As they began arriving after Swiffer went out to join the flock, we're pretty sure they're from her!