Happy Spring!

Yesterday was the first day of spring and here on the west coast you can see signs of it everywhere. The sun is shining, the honey bees are awake, and the flowers are bursting forth with colour.

With all the wet weather we've had here recently I haven't spent much time outside walking around my yard and observing all the changes that are occurring, so the past couple of days have been filled with delightful surprises. 

The mason bees are now outside in their
new home. 

My neighbour's beautiful rhododendron is already blooming.

Our Japanese maple in macro.

One of my favourite spring flowers, the peony, is emerging.

The name of this bush escapes me, but my
daughters think fairies live in the flowers.

I cut the grass for the first time this year. 

The Japanese maple is covered in these
reverse black and red ladybugs.

The ladybugs in macro.

The strawberries are coming back.

My garlic bed is doing very well. Excitement!

The hyacinths are blooming (and I am sneezing).

Daffodils make me happy.

My number one favourite spring flower,
lupins, have begun to grow.

The raspberries have taken over the back
of my garden.

Every year I am grateful for hardy kale, the only
vegetable from my winter garden to survive the
multiple cold snaps we had. 

Happy spring everyone!