The flowers of late winter and early spring occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size. – Gertrude S. Wister

It is true, I just adore spring flowers.  After the long winter, those first shoots of greenery followed by bursts of color warm my heart.

This year the daffodils were the first to open here.  Usually it’s the crocuses but they haven’t yet done anything.  Daffodils are such happy flowers.

Next my little Magnolia tree that I planted in honor of my mom began to bud.  Have you ever smelled a Magnolia blossom?  It’s this uniquely sweet but complex smell.  I stand next the flowers when they open, breathing deeply, gulping up the scent.  Unfortunately the variations in temperature, including some snow and freezing temperatures, were hard on these flowers this year.  The white petals are scattered across the front yard, blowing away with the wind.

I have a huge lilac bush that my husband tried to cut down a couple years ago, but I managed to save.  Not only are it’s flowers lovely but also useful: last year I learned you could make jelly from it’s flowers and boy was I happy I saved it.  It is just beginning to bud.

Some of the flowers we planted from my mother-in-law’s memorial are coming back this spring.  This lovely hyacinth is her favorite color.

Just the other day when I was walking my dog, I noticed these jewels coming up around the pond.  I texted my neighbor Rita and said, “Guess what I saw on my walk today?!”  She replied without skipping a beat: “Violets”  That’s why we get along so well!  She had noticed them too.  Jelly making season is here!  Violets are usually our first pick.

I didn’t get a photo of it, but my forsythia is also beginning to flower.  Did you know that’s an edible flower too?

We took the boys to the Cincinnati Nature Center two weekends ago for a short hike.  As we went through the woods, we saw that the forest floor is carpeted with this sweet spring flower: marsh marigold.  This grows by the river across the street from us too.  It is a strong ground cover that can take over before too long, but isn’t it pretty?

Of course, it looks like spring inside the house too.  One room of our house is being taken over by the plant kingdom.  I have a huge table covered with seedlings and have expanded into the window sill.  I’m not sure where I’m going to go with these as they need to be moved into larger pots.  I really need a greenhouse!  Perhaps that will be a project  to come in the next few years.