River Birch in Bloom

One of the catkins on the river birch outside my office window.

Rogue Tulip

I thought I had pulled all the tulips out of this garden bed....but here's an escapee making a spring showing.

Soon...We'll Be Eating Strawberries

They'll be so good.....

Sugar Snap Pea

We planted snow peas and sugar snap peas two weeks ago, and both are popping up. This is a sugar snap pea.

Flowering Tree Mystery

Big and sweet-smelling blossoms on this ____ tree in our backyard. It "came with house," but didn't come to us with any details.

They're Back! Yellow-Headed Blackbirds

I actually heard them before I saw them this year. Yellow-headed blackbirds love to raid the bird feeders each spring. They're bright, showy and not skittish. And they make a loud, rusty call that can't be missed.

Garlic

Three years ago, or so, I read an article about growing garlic in the home garden. The advice was to go to the grocery store in the fall, buy a head of garlic, separate the cloves and plant them. The advice worked, and then some. Supposedly, you re-plant a few cloves after an early summer harvest...but even after harvesting for a few years and NOT replanting, I have volunteer plants.

A Super White Daffodil

The last round of daffodils are blooming on the north side of the house. The whitest ones always bloom last.

Crab Apple Tree Blossoms

These blossoms are highly fragrant. The scent was drifting in my office window yesterday during the breezy afternoon.

European Starling

I know they have a bad reputation, but I don't mind their showy plumage and interesting vocalizations this time of year. European starlings don't stick around beyond spring.

Blooming Violets

The ground cover violets are starting to bloom.

Nest-Building

I thought this little dear was going to build a nest in the river birch. She built just a few feet away in the crab apple tree, instead.

Goldfinches

Isn't this a sweet little thing? A goldfinch munching on black-eyed Susan seeds.

Lupine with Raindrops

Lupine leaves after a rain shower.

Planting Peas

Snow peas and sugar snap peas went into the ground this week. We often joke that planting snow peas makes it snow. But I saw some fairly nice weather in the forecast for this weekend.

Sign of Life in the Bee Balm Patch

One of the bee balm patches is greening up. These are spiky stemmed flowers with jester-like bloom hats later in the summer. A favorite with bees, of course, and hummingbirds.

Peonies Popping Up

A small forest of peonies. Although the foliage is a burgundy color now, it will green up before the stems bloom.

Tomato Plant Babies

A couple of our cherry tomato plant seedlings. We're about 6 weeks from planting time. We'll start another round of plants next week. All the cherry tomato seeds sprouted. Not a single beefeater tomato seed sprouted. Hmph!

Flowers from a Friend

My friend Jen gave me these flowers on Easter Sunday. I've really enjoyed their brightness on my kitchen table this week. She's a sweetie!

Weeping Cherry Blossom

Blossoms on the weeping dwarf cherry tree. This tree charms me every spring, and fall, but becomes an enemy the rest of the seasons because it's buggy. I've never been able to eradicate the pests.

Geranium Blossoms Trying to Get Out the Window

Two new blooms leaned right up against the window. Soon, they'll get their place again in the yard for the summer.

Easter Bunny Action Outside

White Daffodil

A white daffodil on the north side of the house.

Sunshine in a Flower

A little sunshine break when I went out to check on the daffodils yesterday. It was also a day of hail, though.