Is it spring yet?

The first part of yesterday was gorgeous and spring-like. The sunshine and mild weather lured me out into the garden. This was my first day of real garden work for the season. I tackled some pruning, weeding, raking and transplanting before the skies clouded over and the rain came back.

While I was outside, I snapped these photos.

the crocus out by our front door

the area I worked in last summer, clearing the weeds, laying the river rock, placing the stepping stones, planting rhodies and azaleas, then this past fall planting both daffodil and crocus bulbs. the daffodils are in among the river rock, while the crocus are in the bare earth between river rock and stepping stones

the crocus I planted in the fall are just coming up now. I wonder if they will always be a few weeks behind their cousins by the front door, or if their later growth is due to being planted just this fall?


I've chosen 2 new sites for work this spring and summer. One is the extension of the spring low garden, and will be planted with primroses, red-flowering currant bushes, grape hyacinth, petite daffodils, anemone, rock cress, sword fern and hosta. I'll be dividing plants in my garden for transplanting to this area.

The other area is an extension of the cranberry patch. This area has been so weedy and ugly. We'll be clearing it and taking some cranberry plants from the patch to fill it. This will kill two birds, make an unpleasant area look better, and increase our cranberry harvest.

I can't decide which phrase suits this better -- "Always a work in progress!"  Or, "A labor of love!"