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spring

We pass by the ornamental cherry trees several times a day. One tends to overlook details in an exuberant sea of trees in bloom. I guess it takes a close-up picture to do these blooms justice. Having to get this close to take the snapshot allowed me to take in the subtle fragrance of the flowers, their perfume so much associated with spring it makes you feel they are almost one and the same.

Most years spring around here is an elusive transition which happens so fast that if you blink you might miss it. This year seems to be no different, so I made sure to go around the garden and take pictures of all the beautiful spring flowers I missed last year. It was hard to decide which photo to choose, between the daffodils, the hyacinths, the grape hyacinths, the flowering quinces, and the one and only tulip (the squirrels were working diligently over the winter, and they found the rest of the bulbs).

Every year the chore of spring garden cleaning is softened by the joy of discovering new plants. This year, for instance, the snapdragons survived winter even though we are in zone 5. I finally achieved the seemingly impossible task of overwintering mums. A fistful of perennial flower seeds sprinkled over the flowerbeds as an afterthought last fall sprouted and grew even bigger than the seedlings I started indoors. Some I can recognize (you can’t mistake lupines and columbines for other plants), but for the others I’ll have to wait until they bloom to find out what they are. A couple of the roses I started last year developed roots and the lovage clump that is a very finicky plant seems to be doing great. So is the money plant, a very old favorite from childhood. Every bleeding heart came out strong and beautiful and astilbes decided to grace a north foundation wall in full shade where nothing thrived.

It is uncanny how fast the plants grow after you clear them of brush, sticks and debris. Yesterday’s barren flowerbeds are today’s lush garden in bloom. And because I can’t help it, one more picture:

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