Neglected Yard

I haven't spent more than a few hours out in the garden this spring. Several reasons for that.
1. Precipitation was ALWAYS happening.
2. I was sewing in most of my free time.
3. I was traveling and exercising, and having my bum neck worked on in my "other" (as in out of the      house) free time.
So .... because of these very valid reasons, our large yard looks like it has just been mowed and blowed but otherwise neglected for several months.
I have a semi reliable employee who shows up at our house every week or two and makes it look somewhat presentable.

 Here is Panfilo, who does odd jobs easily when asked and when he understands what it was that was asked. In this pic he is in the process of cutting down my cool gnarly wisteria tree/vine. (Yes, he was asked.)
This vine turned tree trunk, of beautiful green leaves and 1 - 6 flowers annually has been tried and tested in pruning techniques, fertilizing techniques, and just general patience techniques over the 18 years I have known it. We tried anything we could to get it to flower. We let it grow up into a huge ash tree nearby, we cut it out of said tree and pruned it neatly, we root pruned it, we fertilized with flowering non-leafing fertilizers, we starved it, we babied it. Nothing worked. This promising purple flowering vine never performed.
I thought it was I that was the negative influence in it's life as this was my second attempt at having a beautiful wisteria. While we lived in Portland, Oregon I planted one to go all around our hot tub gazebo. It too never bore any resemblance to the magnificent vines I saw all over the city. Everything grows in Portland, Oregon, but I couldn't get flowers on my wisteria. My inferiority complex was being fertilized every time I looked out the window.
About 6 years ago I bought another wisteria plant while it was in bloom. I had heard that some of them just are duds and I wanted to test out the notion of my blame.

 Well, for the past 5 years this originally small plant has bloomed along over 30 feet of our side yard fence. The Hubby and I enjoy it from our beautiful bathroom and I take pictures in front of it each year.
So, now that I had tested my theory that my thumb had not turned black in regard to just one type of plant, I RIPPED out the old wisteria in our back yard. Long story, eh?

 In other flowering news, it appears that the Cineraria that was planted in a partly sunny area of the back yard a few years ago, has reseeded itself into a much more desirable shady spot in the brick work or the patio. It looks pretty cool.

 And this flowering sedum is such a beautiful chartreuse color flower against the burgundy leaves makes me want to plant a lot of this type when we redo the back yard.

 Here is our "Cossette" rose that is really healthy and beautiful outside of our bedroom door.

"Cossette" close up.

 There aren't any flowers whiter than a white azalea.

And lastly, the "Sweet Peas" reseeded themselves X 400%. They are everywhere around the pool equipment. They smell sooooo good and are beautiful as well.
Moral of the story is that Mother Nature tends to continue to produce beauty even if left to her own devices.
She also lets the weeds take over, so I better go augment Panfilo's work and get myself and Michael out in the garden for some organizing and recovery efforts.