Has Spring Sprung?

"Nothing is so beautiful as spring—
When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush"
(see the rest of this poem here)

Nothing is so beautiful as spring, particularly when it's been a long winter. And so it was all the more exciting to be out in the garden yesterday, digging and weeding and planting and peeking at all the new growth.

A slide show, you say? Of the new spring growth? I thought you'd never ask! But of course!

Are you sitting comfortably? Then let's begin...

Nectarine blossoms. This is a Red Gold nectarine. It has a new friend a few feet away, called Hardy Red nectarine.





Violets in the grass.

Pockets of amethyst in emerald.





Miniature daffodils,

nodding,

nodding,

nodding.











The first hint of a red primrose, peeking through. This is a lovely little number with a yellow centre.
















Spotted Pulmonaria. I love this plant so much that I bought a red version last fall, called Raspberry Splash. It's a workhorse of a plant — blooming early in the spring and continuing well on into summer. And that delicate soft blue is just plain fabulous.






Helleborus. It's funny - this plant looks perfectly disreputable all summer, but in the late winter and early spring it comes into its own. Redemption time, I guess.








This looks weird (and slightly creepy) I admit, but it's a cool way to force rhubarb: you put a terracotta pot over it in late winter, mound up the straw, and when you pull off the pot in spring look what's underneath: early rhubarb!







And finally, what you've all been waiting for...

Lemon blossoms!

An enchanting smell if there ever was one.













But wait, there's more!

Lemons.

And this concludes your tour for today.


Happy spring, all!