Spring surprises!

High 73 F
Low 29 F

   Click on pictures to enlarge
There were great extremes in temperature here today with surprising warmth after a very cold evening.  The emerging foliage of the perennials is laced with a filigree of frost which creates those patterns of surprise in the garden that are nature's gift.   I know that I have mentioned the quality of light in the garden at this time of year.  I find this diaphanous veil of light an intrinsic value of spring.  The shadows are still quite long but there is an incandescence to the mornings and evenings as if looking through a camera filter.  This past weekend the EM took a ride and picked up this mulch for the Garden of Five Sisters and one Daughter (GFSD) which is a new garden and hence has many empty spaces just ripe for weeds. It was somewhat of a surprise as I hadn't realized that he had been thinking of picking it up this early but doesn't it look pretty sitting all in this pile.  I love the smell of mulch. I haven't finished raking the gardens out yet so this will have to wait a bit.

This little flower is the first on the Corylopsis pauciflora to bloom.  It is about as big as your thumbnail so it is quite small but the detail in a macro shot shows so much more than the eye notices.  The red is such a surprise!

This afternoon while walking in the garden to see what the higher temperatures have brought to light I noticed the pink glow of the R. mucronulatum 'Cornell Pink'.  Even if you are not a 'pink' person this has to be appreciated.  This wider shot of the garden shows the bleeding heart foliage just under the shrubs and the daffs in bloom.  The foliage is twice as big  as it was yesterday.  The heat does cause the flowers of everything in bloom to fade quickly so I am hoping that temperatures moderate in the next day or so and, we need some rain.

The surprises of nature are welcome but nature has no intent.  We are delighted by the changes in plants from dormancy, to bud, to bloom but these changes will occur whether or not we notice or appreciate them.   Not so with human beings.  We each have an incredible power to touch each other's lives in ways that are purposeful and hopefully, positive.  To bring a smile to someone's face, to make someone feel worthwhile is a gift beyond measure.  My biggest surprise this week was the arrival of a package at the door.  I get a lot of packages but mostly catalogs and samples but the return address on this package said Austin, TX.  Hmmm?  Many of you know of my recent travel woes and the missing of the Spring Fling.  I opened the package and there inside was 'Spring Fling in a box'!  The little tokens of sharing which I missed were bundled up for me by Pam, Melissa, Bonnie and  Diana and included the  little blog cards, brochures, seeds,  hand cream and, yes, sitting right there on the white envelope, dried blue/red bonnets direct from Austin, TX.   The little packet with the butterfly on it actually has a couple of seeds!   All reminders and tokens from thoughtful friends who have put a smile on my face and a tear in my eye!  I will take the opportunity to 'Pay it Forward' sometime in the future and I am very grateful to you all.