Even the plants want to celebrate Ryan's birthday!

It's no secret that Ryan has done a lot for our garden since we bought our house last summer. He helped put in a new flagstone walkway, take out grass and put mounds of dirt down for a new flower garden, he built two raised beds for our vegetable garden, and much more. For the last couple weeks, he's been working -- rain, snow, or shine -- to put up a pergola to retrain our wisteria vine. Before, the wisteria grew on a rickety trellis up the side of our porch and when we pruned the vine a few weeks ago, we noticed that it was jeopardizing part of our roof and our gutters.

Ryan has really become an impressive handy man around the house. While he is likely to need a break after the pergola, he's already talking about the next big project, which could be a new deck on top of our garage or a bathroom/utility room in the basement. Who knows! You'll just have to keep reading to find out!

The new pergola that showcases Ryan's path and plant beds.

This week was also special because Monday was Ryan's birthday. Seemingly in recognition of the big day, the garden started to show signs of spring. Dormant plants began to wake up from their winter slumber to show appreciation for all the hard work and loving care Ryan has shown over the last few months.

It all started with the camellia tree. In this picture, you may notice the single bright pink bloom that opened just for Ryan.

A close up of the camellia flower -- see all the other blooms that are just waiting to open?

A winter pansy
(OK, so this is just a new plant in a planter that I put together last weekend, but it's festive!)

The first crocus of spring!
Perhaps it's no surprise that this bloom is near the wisteria.

Hellebore Madness!

Happy birthday, Ryan! Thank you for all you do!