In the Yard ...Finally (21)

What a glorious day! This is the day I have been waiting for for so long! The sun is shining and the temperature is warm enough that I can work in my yard and garden. I opened up my doors and did the thing that I have been waiting to do all Winter. Beeks and I went out in the garden and cleaned up all the dead leaves and brush from Fall. Guess what we found underneath(this is why I love the early Spring)? My plants are growing! The Crocus is already blooming, the Daffodil are sprouting, the Hostas are pushing up, and the Siberian Iris is also starting to creep up. I don't know how the Pachysandra stays so green all Winter but it looks great. I looked but didn't see any fern coming up yet. Some of the fern heads are visible with a little green but not sprouting yet. Brad tells me that it is too early for the garden plants to start growing but today I saw it starting. We are all excited for green! Most of the plants and flowers are in front of our house, where the Sun has most of the exposure. Our house faces South and so what little sun we do get comes from the front. This time of the year when the trees don't canopy over the house we have the most sun. Soon the woods will surround us and we will have lush green blanket all around.
The bushes are really budding out right now also. My favorite, the Lilac has many buds for branches and I hope flowers. Where ever we move, we plant Lilac bushes but here we don't have enough sunlight each day for the flowers to develop. We may have to move the bush further up the yard if we don't get better flowering. Last year we only had one bloom.
This is when I get out my garden books, looking for pictures of the plants and flowers I already have, choosing new ones to try this year. I started a notebook last year of pictures and information; of ways to improve my garden. I like to plant in containers on the back deck. The Spring is the best time to enjoy the back deck, by July it's usually buggy and too hot in the afternoon. I am thinking that maybe I am going to try to make some plant containers this year. When I've look up plans they don't look too complicated and will be good project for me. We compost our food scraps and it makes a wonderful dirt by the time I am ready to plant in the Spring.
What is Beeks doing while I clean up in the garden? He's rooting through the leaves, nose to the ground, looking for any smell or movement near. He's as curious about Spring as I am. What a great time of year!

I think I like this time of year because it reminds me of the cycle of living and of hope. I love the anticipation of the first growth and I am always amazed at how plants can flourish after looking so dead in Winter.It gives me a huge warm feeling when I can walk around the yard and spy something new, something I haven't seen before. It is truly a morning pleasure.