The emerging foliage of spring has been witnessed over three decades in this garden, but it remains a delight with daily surprises. The same old garden is ever changing, a result of new additions, but also its continued growth. A viburnum fades as it recedes into deeper shade, but a redbud becomes more prominent.

I will always enjoy planting, filling whatever small nooks where a Solomon’s Seal or mayapple might be squeezed in, but there is joy in watching a paperbush (Edgeworthia chrysantha, above) crowd its neighbors with exuberant growth. What do I do now? I recall when I wished for the small, newly planted shrubs to hurry along to fill gaping open spaces.

Until recent years, branches of serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis, above) and a Japanese maple were pushed aside to travel the path beside the stream. I’ve long forgotten if this was planned, but today, I’ll take full credit walking beneath this canopy of emerging foliage and blooms. Lowest branches of the serviceberry have been lost in the shade, but its flowers take the place of fading magnolias in the view from the sunroom. Soon, leaves of the Japanese maple (below) will hide the serviceberry from view in the progression of one flower to the next, then to colorful, finely dissected leaves.

I once declared Robb’s spurge (Euphorbia robbiae, above) to be a useful bully, figuring it to be indestructible in filling the shady side garden. Of course, I was mistaken as the supposed thug has retreated to the outer edges, pushed aside by the seemingly innocent Wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum, below) and Green and Gold (Chrysogonum virginianum).

In the shade of the Bigleaf magnolia (Magnolia macrophylla), the clumps of Summer snowflakes (Leucojum aestivum, below) have begun to fill an open space that extends just beyond the garden’s border. I’m happy to see new plants alongside the thickening clumps that will be even better a year from now.