Spring show of flowers

The first spring in this new home for us has been especially delightful. Besides the normal lift of spirit from seeing green grass and flowers, we have a number of new things in our surroundings.
Dogwoods showed the first blooms early on, along with several forsythia bushes.

Then, a few weeks later, the rhododendron beside the house and an azalea came out with the irises.
Next, the peony bush showed off these large white blooms.
Here's a closeup view of some of the brightest blooms!

I found myself trotting around the house early each morning to see what new blooms were greeting me! Now, reflecting back, the dogwoods, forsythias and most of the irises are spent. What a reminder to enjoy thoroughly what each day brings!

I have a long range dream of spring and summer long blooms blended with an herb garden. I'll have to stay focused as fall approaches to see if I can plant wisely! I want to supplement these blooms that have already shown themselves and add some things that will bloom throughout the summer.

Second Day of Spring

I somehow missed noting that the first official day of spring was on the 20th. Undeniably, spring is all around us and we are discovering new blooms daily in the landscape and trees. We moved in during the fall, so our first spring is truly full of surprises! Not sure, but these blooms look most like a maple from our tree book.
One very brave hyacinth is very showy in the midst of many daffodils...
Daffodils are tucked into several areas around the house and along the driveway...
They are nicely coming out in stages, so we should be able to enjoy them for a more extended season.

Oh, boy...time has come to pull out the garden tiller we purchased from the previous property owner. We were told that it needed new belts and my husband had studied the manual to determine the type. He discovered that it needed belts. Period. Old ones had been removed, so the manual came out again to identify how to place them. After a few hours of fueling, adding oil, placing the belts on and tugging, tugging, tugging the starter cord...success! The almost 30 yr old tiller sputtered and coughed, but still worked.

My husband coaxed it along a few turns in the garden plot. It's extremely cranky, we're hoping due to lack of use. Our soil tests indicate we need fertilizer in the garden as well, so we'll purchase a good quantity and give the cranky tiller an opportunity to earn its keep!