My new yard

I just moved this winter and now that spring is coming in, I uncovered what the previous owners had planted. I'm not sure what some of it is though because apart from container roses and a few houseplants, I'm new to gardening. I live in Iowa, zone 5.



I'm thinking of putting a raised bed in front of the shed because that's the area that gets the most light. From here (sorry about the awkward angle) you can see the circular bed and the patch.

My peonies! I thought they were hideous when they were coming up and wanted to rip them out because I didn't know what they were. Then I went to Peck's, our gardening store, to get some peonies b/c my mom loves them and right when I saw them I knew I already had them. Saved me $40!
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I'm pretty sure these are hens and chicks. Whatever they are, I'm starting to like them. :)

A friend of mine told me that this might be kale but I googled it and I still have no idea what this is. Is it some sort of ornamental lettuce?

More of the might-be-kale and something else. It sort of looked like lavender before I cut it to let the new growth come in but, again, this is according to my friend and my bad googling. I think it might be mint though but I'm not sure because she told me that it was lavender. It smells like mint though. :/

More hens and chicks. I have no idea what's growing to the left of it. It looks a bit like Sweet Woodruff, which I think I have growing behind the circular bed.

I can't remember the name of the frosty stuff but my grandma has a ton of it. I think that's lemon variegated thyme because I found a marker (out of the ground) for it and it doesn't look like it could be anything but that.

No idea what some of this is.

My Lamb's Ears! I usually don't like Lamb's Ears but Ihave an affection for these.

My patch of random herbs and other things. Beyond Chocolate Mint, I really have no idea what's growing here. There used to be a lot of dead bushes but I cut those back for the new growth. It looks like whatever's growing in the circle that I cut back. I'm pretty sure that it's a mixture of mint and lemon balm but I'm not sure and I don't want to start making tea out of something that's going to poison me.

Mint?

I like how this looks so far but I have no idea what it is. Is it more mint? I've seen mint look like this but I'm not sure because I've never planted it and, since I'm really, really new to gardening, my knowledge of herbs is limited to the dried bits on my spice rack. Everything smells like mint and lemon in this patch though.

This is what I think might be Sweet Woodruff.

The chocolate mint that I was so pleased to find. It's perfect for tea.

I think this is lemon balm.

Here you can see some of the parts of the bushes that I forgot to throw away. They're planted very randomly. Like, there's a row along the right of them and then on the opposite side, there's about two or three of them on the top left. That's part of what makes me think it's a mixture of lemon balm and mint because they can grow tall like that and I've always heard that they both spread like weeds.


I've seen this before but I'm not sure what it is. Chives? Maybe? It's really rubbery though and I'm not sure if Chives are supposed to be that rubbery.

Once again, I have no idea what's growing (this time in the cubby between my house and the deck stairs.


My mom said that these might be trees but idk because I have no idea why anyone would plant trees this close to the side.

Along the side, there's unknown things growing:


They're pretty so far.

Pretty sure these are hostas growing around my tree. Counted about six of them.

Out front, I've got two trees growing. This one is my favorite. I think it's some sort of pear tree. I'm hoping that it's a dwarf because if not, I'm going to have four big trees in my yard.

The second tree, which hasn't bloomed yet. No idea what kind it is.

These green things are growing around both trees. More hostas?

I'm dying to get these cement blocks out. I think I might plant a rose bush here instead since I love roses and they're what I know best.

This is growing everywhere and I have no idea what it is.

One of these accidentally came out and it's got a bulb but I have no idea what it is. They don't look like they're growing at all.
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No idea what this is....

or this. Are they some sort of succulents?

I've got two of these growing. This one bloomed first. Not sure what it is. I'm thinking plum trees but why in the world would anyone plant them so close?
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Bunches of hostas are growing either side of the two bushes/trees.

In front of the bushes/trees, there's this random half circle filled only with ground cover and weeds. I was going to plant a mixture of herbs and flowers here. If those are plum trees out front, I might just uproot those while they're young-ish and put them in back (no pictures of that) and put two rose bushes here instead.

And that's it for my yard! I can't wait to actually plant things for once. I've got some tomatoes and onions growing inside that I'll probably have to plant in about two-three weeks once I get my raised garden bed up. Thanks for looking!