Spring is vaulting into summer in my garden. The hostas that were just spikes a week ago are fully unfurled; the bleeding hearts are fading. Look at how this lovely corner planting near me has changed in just a week's time.
Before spring really disappears and the perennial gardens fill with mature plants, it's a good time to look around your garden and get a feel for what's really going on there. You still have time to get to the dandelions that have rooted in the perennials, to pull up that string of creeping Charlie before it winds among the daylilies and to try to get rid of creeping bellflower before it takes over the world.
It's also time to divide the perennial grasses before they get too big.
Speaking of looking, this is what I saw on a small oak tree I've passed a thousand times on walks through the neighborhood.
This picture was taken about 10 days ago, when the branches were mostly bare. I believe these are oak bullet galls, which are created by small wasps. While this little tree has many branches with these penny-sized galls on them, they supposedly are harmless, though some websites say if there are enough of them they may cause twig or branch dieback.
I'll watch this tree from now on to see how it does. Are you seeing anything unusual in the garden?
