Spring...

The weather has been telling us it's spring for the last month, but the calendar assures me it doesn't actually arrive until next Tuesday, the 19th.  I seem to remember not that long ago spring would appear on the calendar weeks before the weather would concede to its arrival.  The last few years it seems just the opposite.  We feel the tease of coming spring weeks (this year, more than a month) before the calendar confirms it.

All sorts of plants have been growing for the last few weeks, but today I finally snapped some pictures.  When I started taking these pictures two years ago, I didn't realize what a nice record it would prove to be.  

For example, in this post on April 22nd, two years ago, I can see that today's asparagus patch is producing a whole month earlier.  Even with last year's early spring, we didn't eat asparagus until the middle of April.

On Monday of this week, there were just a few small spears:

By Friday, this had happened:

I didn't get a picture of the whole patch, just the spot where there were a number of spears growing.   Our nights are supposed to dip below 30 a couple of nights this weekend.  If that doesn't ruin these spears, I think we'll be eating asparagus come Monday!

In the same vein, my various plant pictures are probably more for my record than for your enjoyment, but humor me as I post what's growing here.

Irises

Daylilies

Clematis

Egyptian Walking Onions

I remember, the first spring we were here, I was going to dig up these walking onions and do away with them.  I am so glad I didn't.  They provide entertainment all summer long as they produce new bulbils on the top of their green stalks and then fall over and those bulbils eventually produce new plants.  We've given away a bunch of these plants the last two summers.  I think I'm going to be a little stingy and let these replenish this year.

Somehow, I missed until this spring that this is a forsythia bush.  

Forsythia blooms make my heart happy.

And these Daffodils bloomed on Wednesday.  

Yes, I was watching that closely.  

They're not pictured, but I noticed that the sedum was growing in February.  And this week, the Bradford Pears and I think a Maple tree are budding out.    

For weeks, we've been serenaded by birds from early morning to evening time. It's nice to be treated to green growing things now too.  While our winter has been nothing to complain about, and even when I don't quite feel ready for it to warm up, spring always feels like a gift.  

~~~~~

The blossoms have already appeared in the land;

The time has arrived for pruning the vines,

And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

~ Song of Solomon 2:12