I took a quick wander around the yard today and took the below photos.  It has been so warm that spring is pretty much here!  We’ve almost hit 60 degrees several times in January/February, and nights are mostly in the 40s now.

The koi are getting active already. I love the reflection of the bare branches in the pond.

More reflections in the pond.

Brilliant Masdevallia orchid in the greenhouse.  The three plants have fewer flowers so far this year, but it is still pretty early.

Wide shot of Masdevallias.

This mushroom popped up in one of the pots of Pleione orchids in the greenhouse.  It seems like a good omen.

The original Pleione pot has about seven big buds starting that will evolve into flowers in a month or so.

The Coelogyne cristata has new buds coming and the pseudobulbs are wonderfully plump.  It is possible we’ll get a great number of flowers this year.  It is also possible we will get none.   This early, I can never tell whether the buds are leaves or flowers!

I really think this one is a flower bud!

A giant garden disappointment.  I had planted out hundreds of perennial seedlings in the raised veggie beds to winter over.  Some of them made it, but as far as I can tell, many of them disappeared.  The yarrow seedlings appear to be all gone, which is shocking, considering how healthy they were and how hardy they are…not sure what went wrong.  I still have a lot of plants to go in the parking strip garden, but will need to grow even more this year!

There are a few crocus clumps around the yard.  This one is on the west side of the Doug fir bed.  The large clump only had one flower.

Another view.

And one more.

My timing was pretty bad.  The sun was out all weekend, but I missed getting the open crocus!  Then I tried again the next day, and still missed them…but they are pretty even when they aren’t open.

This is the Hellebore in the Doug fir bed.

These are the crocus along the brick bed near the front porch.

More crocus.

The plum tree’s buds are really swelling.  I’m hoping they don’t open too soon, before the bees arrive.

Here is the Hellebore that came from sister Cate’s garden.  It is blooming beautifully and early.

Another view.

And another…

This is the plant habit.

These appear to be baby Hellebore seedlings.  I will pot them up and see if I can get them to maturity.

I am happy to see the Geranium “Summer Snow” plants that I spaced around the orchard garden are growing well.  I should get some impressive flowering from them this year.

This is a shot of the greenhouse in its current, stuffed-to-the-gills state.  I open the door some days to get fresh air in there, as the Cymbidium buds are getting fungus.

More attempts at Crocus photography.

And a  few more.  I might yet catch them in sun, when they open up fully.