look what what hiding under the snow...

This photo was taken this morning at around 11:30am.  At 6pm, it started snowing again.  I'm thinking that this year we've had record snow fall.

happy valentine's day...

What was seen in the garden on Monday afternoon:

...and so it begins!

spring has sprung...

The tulips and other flowers are growing like crazy on the south facing side of the house.  I think I'll have flowers on this big one in no time.

we are 10 days behind...

Yesterday, quite by accident I noticed some tulips coming through the soil.  I wanted to post the pic so that people wouldn't think I'm a big fat liar.

This morning we woke up and it was snowing...still is.  I'm really happy I took the shot yesterday, cuz now they are under 4 inches of snow.  I took my ruler out just now and measured.  I'm debating on what time today I'll start up the snow blower.

There are two schools of thought; wait til the snow stops and you only have to blow once - OR - blow now and the next time you blow, it's easier cuz there's much less snow.

random shots...

allium - persian blue (allium purple sensation)

cherry tree

ground phlox  (phlox subulata)

it's hard to keep up...

firespray (praestans tub. var.)

white star magnolia

forsythia

azalea

magnolia

bleeding heart

beautiful day...

Today is my 43rd birthday. It was a really beautiful day - not sure what the high temp was, but it was pretty hot.

We worked outside all day...from around noon until 8pm. Still not done. In the morning only the one set of tulips and the one daffodil had bloomed. By the end of the day, you wouldn't believe how many things had bloomed.

Even the little flower buds on the lilacs are starting to show some color.

Here's some pictures from this evening - a little dark. I tried to lighten them up a bit.

firsts...

Can you tell me the name of these...some kind of violet?

First Tulip to come out

First Daffodil

I call these glories of the snow...but I really don't know

Look at my Smokey out in the c-c-c-c-cold...(I wanna come in mommy).

The tulips are from the bulbs we were given by the B&B hosts on Mackinac Island. Nice to see there is still a tulip in there since we planted around 100 of these things around the house last fall.

let the flowering begin...

The forsythia that I brought in a week ago Sunday has started blooming; meaning that the flowers are unraveling from their casings. Just a flower or two at the moment, but within a day or two, I’m sure the whole branch will be yellow.

The Azalea hasn’t shown much “growth” yet, but give it another week and I’m sure the blooms will begin.

The tulips and daffodils that I planted a couple of weeks back are also growing. The tulips are already over three inches tall and over the weekend I’ve noticed the tip of one daffodil. I’m not sure the other daffodil will bloom since I noticed when I planted it, the bulb was very light and dry, so it’s possible that it will not grow, since it may have died over the winter.

I find it interesting that the tulips are growing quicker than the daffodils since the latter is supposed to be one of the first to bloom in the spring; along with crocuses.

spring thaw...

Since we are experiencing some milder weather at the moment and a lot of the snow that was close to the house has melted, I decided to rake the leaves that were in the flower beds by the backdoor of the house. Usually these bulbs start growing earlier than any other because they are next to the south facing brick and get warmed up pretty quickly.

The first rake through, I noticed that ALREADY a tulip is poking his head out. When I cleared more leaves, it was amazing just how much growth was under there – everything is growing and quite a bit! I really hope that they survive now that I’ve gotten rid of their insulation. I guess it’s time that my spring flower “growing/dying anxiety” rears its ugly head. It’s just that last year it was nearly impossible to remove the leaves once the flowers started growing into them – the leaves veins would choke the greenery.

Yep, I just checked my gardening journal and I noticed them growing 2 weeks sooner than last year. Some are already over an inch high.