Spring is Springing!

 The forsythia is in full bloom in Pittsburgh this week, and for a change I actually got the crabgrass preventer down before this sign that it's too late.

 Hostas are poking up- this is Sagae, one of the normally earliest emergers, as is Montana aureomarginata (it's spectacular in early spring, average later).  Today I got cages over most of the emerging hostas and daylilies that aren't behind my temp deerfence.  I'm way behind schedule on getting a permanent deer fence.  Cages are wire cloth or wastebaskets / laundry baskets from the dollar store.

 This podophyllum "Kaleidoscope" (chinese may apple) is behind the deer fence; expensive and easy to kill because they emerge early, so I keep a big pot right next to it in case of late frost.  I had another cultivar, "Spotty Dotty" but I think a rabbit ate it. 

Heuchera, Tiarella, and Heucherella are evergreen, so some look pretty ratty in early spring, but they're one of the few plants that work in both sun AND shade.  I had about a dozen in a single 4x6 foot patch in Philadelphia, but I think I pulled the wrong tag when I transplanted this to Pittsburgh.  This doesn't look like Tiarella Heronswood Mist to me.