The Early Garden

The garden has just exploded with new green shoots emerging from the ground, and a few of them are in bloom already.  Mrs. F.G. planted quite a few small Primrose outside the window to amuse me, but I also got out onto the patio a couple of times, it was so sunny and warm.  In fact it got actually hot for a few days, summer in April!

There are a number of both white and purple Primrose, adding a spot of colour to spring.

There's a pretty hellebore, though its blooms hang down so are hard to photograph.

We have a couple of patches of Scilla or Squill as they are called.  I've seen huge patches of these in a couple of lawns on the way downtown.

And there's a nice big clump of the Dwarf Iris.  I showed you the plants out front where they get full sun, but these are in shade and so bloom a couple of weeks later.

And out front the Hyacinth are just about to open up.

Footnote:  It's three days later and the Daffodils in the front garden are in full bloom, as are those Hyacinth.  But the Dwarf Iris, which like it chilly, have already faded in the hot temperatures of the last few days.

Hot, Sunny and Downtown I Go!

It's an early taste of hot summer weather here, so out I went yesterday (and again today).  It's just sweltering.  I headed downtown on my favourite ride, stopping at the library to return a book, and heading on to McGinty's for a quick cup of coffee.  I drove the one block down to the harbour and got my first look of the summer before heading home.

One lawn in front of a big old house had a huge patch of bright blue Scilla in full bloom.

And our local flower shop, Simply Unique, has moved back to a wheelchair accessible location.  I stopped in to say hello and expect to stop again.  It's in a space renovated to be a pizza shop which never went anywhere.

It was a quick stop at the library this time, just returning a book.

Then it was coffee time and I discovered they serve a maple syrup latte!  First choice for me.

I just stopped at the harbour long enough to take a picture.  It shows what a beautiful day we had!

A First Beyond the Neighbourhood Ride!

I got out for a ride finally as the temperature hit 17°C!  Suddenly spring is here with warmish temperatures all week.  I've been up and down our own short street already this spring when we had an odd semi-warm day, but today I went around the shorter of the five walks (actually rides) I'll be doing over the summer.  There was a breeze, but it was actually a warm breeze!

A couple of homes right here on our street have some spring-like decor out front, one complete with headless dog.  I have no doubt these bright yellow flowers are meant to mimic Forsythia, which will be in bloom soon.

But when I went riding I found some more beautiful Dwarf Iris around the block at a friend's house.

And they also had Snowdrops, another of the very early blooming flowers here.

The Snowdrops were scattered in various clumps around the garden.  One of my favourite flowers if  can get close to them!

They also had quite a few Crocus of various colours.  Altogether a great welcome for spring.

The Forecast is Looking Great!

As you know, I wait all winter for the chance to get out and ride around a few nearby roads here in Meaford.  Finally there is no snow left, and this week the forecast is for full or partial sun every day, with temperatures ranging from 17°C to 23°C!  What could be better!

How can you beat that when we are still only in the middle of April!  I intend to be out there every day enjoying it!

And yesterday for the first time we saw a Turkey Vulture across the golf course.  It was just a large black something until it flew, but it circled back quickly and fended off the two crows that were bothering it.  The food must have been good.

In this picture you can tell it is a vulture, but this photo also shows the shortcoming of my phone camera.  Even though this phone, a Samsung galaxy Ultra something-or-other, has an incredible zoom, when you use that powerful zoom you lose resolution quickly.  As you can see the picture is blurry, it is badly pixilated.  To tell the truth I am disappointed.  After using it a lot I can see it has some serious shortcomings.

The Birds are Returning!

 As well as our first flower blooming (see Wednesday's post), we've had the first few birds return, though a little late by my memory.  The forecast is looking good though, with temperatures soaring from +2 as I write this to +18 or 19 by a week today.  That will be warm compared to the last 7 months and may lead to a wave of spring migrants.

The American Robins are the bird that is symbolic of spring here.  They are one of the very first to arrive on their returning migration, easy to recognize, and thrive in the habitat of people's back yards.  We've had a pair around for a few days now.

Beyond the robins, we've seen both a Song Sparrow and numerous Turkey Vultures, but they haven't sat still for a photo!  I did catch this Mourning Dove this morning, probably a pair that stayed in the neighbourhood over winter, but only now appeared on our patio.  Note the bright green leaves of the Common Primrose in the background.  I'll be watching for the first flower to appear.

And I was pleased to see the white Dwarf Iris has emerged again, entangled now with the dry stems of a more recently planted clump of Lavender.  I may have to ask Mrs. F.G. to move it so it doesn't get overwhelmed.

And just to be clear, these Dwarf Iris are Iris reticulata, commonly known as Reticulated Iris, Netted Iris, Speciies Iris, or most frequently as sold in North America, simply Dwarf Iris.  It should not be confused with Iris lacustris, the Dwarf Lake Iris, a very rare but same sized plant, only found in Ontario along the west shore of the Bruce Peninsula and the southeast corner of Manitoulin Island.  I've seen it at Dorcas Bay, in the Bruce Peninsula National Park.

Dwarf Iris in Bloom

There's one flower I look for every spring, and for a decade it's been the bright royal blue Dwarf Iris.  The Daffodils will come, and we'll really enjoy them, but the tiny Dwarf Iris marks spring for me.

These are growing right outside our front door, in a tiny strip of garden between the sidewalk and the front porch.  Just got out there and took these pictures this minute!

Spring is Finally Springing!

We I think it's true, spring is finally arriving, though it's still quite cold out there today, in spite of the bright sun.  The forecast calls for double digit temperatures this week, possibly up to 16C!  That's actually warm!  And I think the tiny dwarf blue Iris which is always our first flower will surely be in bloom now, though I can't quite see it from the window.

Just two short weeks ago this was the view out back.  In spite of our winterless interlude in January, we've had a good six weeks of proper winter now, rescuing the cross-country skiing season if nothing else.

Just the day before yesterday we still had this much snow - going fast but not gone.

But today it's nearly gone, the warm sun and temperatures even slightly above freezing have taken it away.

Our snow stick, the Ostrich, has revealed the same pattern.

Nearly gone.

And almost completely gone.  What really amazes me every year is how the Daffodils and Primrose have already emerged with their bright green leaves even as the snow vanishes and reveals them.  In any case, we're at the start of the biggest change in the seasons that the year has to offer.