I’m back from a week in the desert of Nevada and Arizona and it looks, feels and sounds an awful lot like spring here in Seattle.  In the eight days since I flew away, the forsythia bush at the end of the driveway burst into full bloom:

Other signs of spring are all the hellebores in full flight:

These two from Plant Delights about four years ago in the bed under the douglas fir.

Here is flower detail:

Below is still my favorite flower from brother Tim–likely 15 years ago.

This one is from sister Cate last year–prolific and coincidentally looks like a combo of the other two!

Unfortunately, the bulbs I forced in the cold frame have been pretty warm, so they are all getting ready to bloom at once and not on my schedule, but on their own. Some of the hyacinths look pretty good:

You can see that these are ready to go, so I’ve uncovered them to get a bit of the wonderful sun today.  I’ll be moving them out to the greenhouse or house soon.  The tulips are the only ones that aren’t really doing much–not sure if they will bloom or not.

Bulbs in the garden are actually ahead of the forced bulbs, including the crocus and one lonely, early daffodil:

Other blooms and buds in the garden: