There were a few garden chores on the list today, and of course many more for the coming weeks.  Today, I pruned the climbing rose that had been on the trellis and growing up the recently removed bitter cherry tree.  I easily removed half the plant, but I’m sure it will grow right back.  This is a start from the arboretum, and it has deliciously fragrant apricot/cream flowers.

Signs of spring include all of the following and the above narcissus that I set out today from the cold frame.

This pot had a hummingbird visitor today!

The camellia in our yard has one giant open flower…a bit weather worn now, but amazing in its size and shape, regardless.

The buds on the winter hazel and the forsythia are very close to bursting:

Crocus are up and blooming, including these in the Douglas fir bed:

The Hellebore from Brother Tim is blooming:

More seedlings are up in the greenhouse–verbascums, campanulas and others:

The Masdevallias continue to be the bright lights in the greenhouse–nothing subtle here, but their shape is cheering and the color cannot be ignored.

Below are some of the forced iris reticulates that came out of the fridge about a month ago.  They have taken a long time to bloom, but I love the flower shape, color and Leon enjoys the scent (I can’t smell it due to nose blindness).  The container is a homemade pot from my school friend Lisa Ostgard-Murray–close to 40 years old!

Other garden chores today–I pruned the Madrona trees in the Doug fir bed and the mint plant there, as well.  Cleaned out some stems from the Aruncus, too.

In the orchard garden, I did some clean-up of the brambles, cutting out dead canes and securing the live ones with twine on the trellises to be sure they are up and out of trouble and ready to produce a million berries.

There are many other chores–hope to get to more tomorrow and Monday, as the holiday will give me some much needed free time.