As we head into summer, I took another stroll around the yard to see what's happening.

The Japanese Maple is now completely green. I'll have to wait until fall to see it change back to red again.

The Thanksgiving Cactus is definitely enjoying being outside. I see a lot of new growth.

The Red Fountain grass is doing very well.

I am now seeing quite a few red plumes.

The plants by the front steps are also happy.

I've got red plumes on both plants.

Once summer arrives, I know the crape myrtles will soon be blooming.

The Purple Magic crape myrtle was the first to bloom this year, and has been since I planted it.

It is also the best bloomer of the three I planted back in 2015. Hopefully, the other two, (a Plum Magic and a Crimson Red), will also bloom this summer.

I've got an idea for what to do with the area seen in the photo above. I think I'm going to replace the ailing rose bushes, broken dogwood, and broken red maple tree with Gladioli.

While the cluster of Gladioli is doing ok where it is, I think it's too close to the dogwood tree which is blocking the sunlight. Whether or not this is the cause for the pronounced "lean," I don't know. But I think I'm going to spread everyone out anyways.

All is well in the backyard. I have no idea what to do here. But I'm not going to worry about it at the moment. I'll figure something out when the time is right.