Finally some old friends are showing up.

My Sweet Joe Pye Weed has put in an appearance:

Sweet Joe Pye Weed Starting to Come Up

My common milkweed is suddenly popping up.  As I recall by the end of last year my original one plant had transmogrified into at least 8 plants. I wonder how many there will be this spring.

Common Milkweed Coming Up

The Penstemon is putting in an appearance:

Penstemon Coming Up

I have several plants that I think may be Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa).  I’m not positive as I think it is a little early for Butterfly Weed to be this far along.  But at this point I don’t know what else it might be.

Butterfly Weed Coming Up?

This is the way my Climbing Aster (Aster carolinianus) looks from a distance.  Old dead wood, right?

Climbing Aster from a Distance 04/19/15

Last year I was “cleaning up” by cutting away this old “dead” stuff, when I realized there were green leaves growing out of it!  This year I know better.  Here’s a view closer up.  If you look closely you can see that there are green leaves growing out of the brown stems.

Climbing Aster Up Close

Finally, I don’t know that these would classify as “old friends” but the inch worms are back this year!  I keep discovering them crawling on the back of my neck after I’ve been out in the yard.  Sorry, they are too small for me to photograph.