I do not think I would consciously pair chartreuse green with red in the garden but that is indeed what I noticed growing in combination together the other day while out patrolling the garden with camera in hand.

I first noticed this color combination on my potted Japanese maple. Note the red tips on its tender new green leaves.

This happens to be a coral bark Japanese maple. (Acer palmatum ‘Sango-kaku’)

Speaking of coral in the garden, I also noticed my flaming red coral bells (Heuchera) {I have grown these particular coral bells for well over 7 years now and unfortunately have long-lost what they are} in full bloom next to my almost in bloom lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis). There’s that chartreuse and red combo again!

I know I would not purposefully plant these color combinations together but seeing them in my garden I appreciate how they actually complement each other rather nicely. Have you ever had an accidently color combo that ended up turning out to be just right?

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful and sunny. (Today is back to the gloomy gray I’m sad to say.) I went out to the garden with camera in hand and took a few photos here and there of the herb garden and the plants that are waking up. I just recently showed a photo of my comfrey coming back to life and it seems to be growing everyday now.

Below is a glimpse into one corner of my herb garden.

The plant in the front with the celery like foliage is lovage. I’m happy to see that it survived all the rain and did not rot away. This will be its third year in the herb garden and I am anxious to see how big it will get this summer.

Behind the lovage you can see my Egyptian walking onions. This also marks their third year in the garden and I am so pleased with how well they are doing this year. I have several nice and healthy clumps at the moment.

I love the Egyptian walking onions! Every bit of them is edible and we have been enjoying the greens in salads and soups for a few weeks now. (My 12-year-old and I especially like them in egg drop soup made with our homemade stock.) The kids love them because of how they “walk” around the garden. When they flower and grow heavy the tops fall over and a new plant will sprout– hence the “walking”!

Two herbs have reseeded themselves with abandon throughout the garden and I have willingly let them do just that. Below you can see some bronze leaf fennel has sprung up next to a new seedling of clary sage. I think they are going to look just lovely growing next to each other.

Finally, I took a photo of my roses and as you can see they are just beginning to wake up.

They are rather far along in waking up in comparison to my Japanese maples who happen to still be tightly in bud.

Not too much longer now and the garden will be bursting with plants and flowers! I cannot wait to get my little man out there exploring it all–my little man who just happens to be one years old now! Where did that year go?!

Yesterday the rain clouds magically parted in the afternoon and the sun came out long enough for me to take a nice stroll through the garden with my camera in hand. There really is not a whole lot in bloom right now but I was able to take a few pictures for today which happens to be Bloomin’ Tuesday.

This first picture is of some Borage that is growing wild all around my compost piles. It is quite pretty as the flowers are both blue and pink. Some type of mutation I suppose but all the borage growing over there is blooming like this. I have seen blue borage flowers, pink borage flowers, and white borage flowers but never have I seen any both blue and pink. I never would have even noticed them if it wasn’t for this little quest to find flowers in bloom!

The next picture isn’t exactly a flower but it does look nice. This large rock is sitting along the back end of our yard and almost overnight the moss has “bloomed” all over it. In the right hand corner you can see yet another wild blackberry creeping up on the rock. Sigh, yanking up the wild blackberry never ends!

This final picture is actually of my neighbor’s Japanese maple. I saw it yesterday and thought I had better get its picture while I still can because as you can see it is dropping its pretty yellow leaves. This maple is so beautiful this time of year. It is a Coral Bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Sango Kaku’) and once it drops all of its leaves you are left with its beautiful red limbs. It really looks nice when everything else is so dark and dreary. In a few more weeks I will post another picture of it once it starts to show its bark.

That’s all I have to share for today’s Bloomin’ Tuesday. Be sure to visit Jean’s blog and check out all of the other Blooming Tuesday posts!