Spring planting and blooming

We're having the fun of discovering what grows in our yard, and of adding in both flowers and vegetables as we see fit. So far we have five blooming trees - three lilac, one crab apple, and one snow crab that we rescued from an unfortunate planting situation. (In brief: if you're going to plant a tree, you must dig a hole. Really. Even if you see trees that have mulch mounded up around them such that it looks like they're more or less just plunked on the ground with soil heaped around them - no. This is not how to plant a tree. There's just no way around it: you must dig a hole.)

In flower news, we have peonies that are doing well, zillions of tiger lilies, daylilies everywhere, purple coneflower taking over the place, and a bunch of stuff we haven't yet identified. Some surprises: phlox in various hues of pink and purple; some hyacinth that probably need to be relocated; and really, really healthy rhubarb. (We've given away two big batches already and have had one rhubarb crisp and used rhubarb as ice cream topping. And it's early May!) Upcoming: more on the insane veggie garden we're planting.