We've had quite a bit of rain around here lately. The more Mother Nature waters my plants, the less I have to pay Athens-Clarke County to do it. The Mexican Pony Tails Feather Grass and Pink Muhly Grass plants all look great.

The Husker Red Beardtongues, Super Blue Lavender, and Coronation Gold Yarrows are all doing very well.

Another week has passed since I moved the Pampas Grass plant to this spot. Seeing more green is definitely a good thing ! It looks like it will be fine.

It looks like the Vitex Shoal Creek is preparing to bloom. I should see a lot of blue flowers in the upcoming weeks.

The Frostproof Gardenia has grown tremendously since I planted it back in 2014. It has bloomed each spring with about the same level of intensity. This is typically what I have seen, which is fine.

I have another Asiatic Lily flower !

I was hoping it would bloom before the deer got to it. So seeing this made me smile.

Tiny Dessert Asiatic Lily flower.

Tiny Dessert Asiatic Lily flower.

I planted this Persian Lilac in the back yard in May 2015. The tag on the plant said "Part Sun," which is why I put it in the back yard. But evidence suggests that the back yard may be more "Part" than "Sun." After half of it died over the winter, I decided to move it out front to see if I could save it.

I chose the area by the rose bushes for no reason other than that area is somewhat of a mess. Adding one more plant to it can't really hurt at this point.

I found this ornamental grass cluster originally growing in the back yard. The shape and symmetry caught my eye and made me think it would look good in this corner where my driveway and front walk meet. So I moved it to this location last year. That simple decision has become one of my favorite aspects of the front yard.

That got me thinking. I have a few more smaller clusters of ornamental grass in the back yard. I wonder how it would look if I scattered more clusters like this one around the front yard. There's only one way to find out.

I've got several areas where something small could go given the right opportunity. So I moved one of the smaller ornamental grass clusters to this area in between the recently relocated Pampas Grass plant and the existing flowering Dogwood tree.

I put two more smaller clusters in between the pear tree and the three Crape Myrtles.

This area in between the pear tree and the three Crape Myrtles is large enough to accommodate two small ornamental grass clusters.

I put another small ornamental grass cluster in between the palm tree and Star Magnolia. I originally had two palm trees here. The Silver European Fan Palm tree still looks ok, but hasn't done any "growing" since planted it. I also moved the remains of a large Green European Fan Palm tree to this location in an attempt to save it. What was an actual small tree years ago had devolved into a twig that stayed green until this spring when it finally died. That spot seemed like a good location for another ornamental grass cluster. So the one large area filled with black mulch has now become two smaller areas.

I keep saying that I need to figure out how to properly maintain my rose bushes, and I think this may be the first step. The roses bloom each spring, but don't really look healthy. Everything I read says that I need to use some kind of insecticide to control the pests. Cross your fingers.