We are blessed with hummingbirds all year. Swallows return to our area in March, but we do not have too many swallows nesting near my current home so I do not notice it as much as places I have lived in the past.

Most of our spring rituals are on hold due to the quarantine. We usually hold a large family Easter get-together, the highlight of Spring. We plant new flowers, and spiff up our patio and deck right before the event. Normally would have spent the last week getting ready. Not able to buy new flowers and it has been too rainy to fix up our outdoor area. But hopefully we can work on the clean up next week.

Another tradition is following the bunny trail. A neighborhood where we used to live does an Easter morning bunny trail, Chalk bunny prints go from house to house. My daughter and I always go back to our old neighborhood and walk the bunny trail early Easter morning. May still do this it depends on the weather, if rainy there will be no trail to follow.

Planning our garden, already planted the tomato plants. DH was at Costco last week and they had some big ones with flowers on them already.

It's hard to tell in these photos, but Costa's have iridescent purple throats and heads, and the light has to hit them a certain way to see it. These photos were taken on a rainy day.

My normal spring ritual is enjoying my epiphyllum, but those are all in L.A.

This is the time of year that my Christmas cacti start showing flower buds. I keep them in the basement all winter where it cool and the light is dim, and now they are ready to come upstairs. One in particular is so large that as it hibernates, I find it difficult to rotate it to ensure that all sides are exposed to the light. So sometimes the blooms are concentrated on the side that's been near the window. This is a "growing" reminder I have of my late DM as these were her plants and she was always very dedicated to any plant life.

I put my feeders out about 2 weeks ago. It was still cool, but the "scouts" were reportedly seen around our area. One feeder is empty, even though I never saw a hummer!

The only kind in our area are the ruby throats. Love to see them flit about!

Our temps are going to plummet tomorrow, so I'd better get them refilled.

I just bought 20 epiphyllim cuttings and Connie Mayer (draon fruit) cuttings. I had many epiphyllims and also Connie Mayer in the past. Lost Connie Mayer when strong wind blew it off the porch and feral hogs ate it and my epis washed away in the flood. After I ordered the cuttings...I realized I have no where to overwinter them. The house on the bayou had a huge sun porch. So I will have to figure out something by this winter.

I have seen a couple of hummingbirds here already this spring. We have Eastern Blue Birds nesting in the lean to of the new barn.

I am most excited about the antique roses I bought last fall

Rabbits severely chewed them but they have recovered and are blooming now. It is the best time to start rose cuttings and I have about a dozen rooted and more on the way. And it is waterlily time, and that is always exciting for me. After more than 50 years, they are still my favorite.

Living in East Texas now, I am finding new plants and trees to identify. Much more diversity in plants here than on the coast. It's a fun time for me.

We put our hummingbird feeder out in mid-March and have already gone through one bottle of juice and the second bottle is down by 1/2. Our little hummers have been really drinking up the juice. Seeing the arrival of the first little hummer is always so exciting.

Putting out my feeders also screams spring to me. I spotted my first hummingbird about two weeks ago. It was a tiny baby feeding on the lilac; at first I mistook it for a moth.

We have the Anna's year round here so have been feeding them all along. Several Rufous have joined them in the last month so the feeders are busier and there is lots of territorial fighting going on - makes DH crazy, he wants them in harmony ;0) And they are, for a bit each morning early and again at dusk. Those are the two times a day they will sit and share feeders - and not be doing kamikaze fights around the nectar.

We can get them here as early as late February and have occasional overwinter birds. Our are principally Rufus. The early birds are normally pass throughs on their way up north into Canada or even Alaska. This year we seem to have some Annas as well. I wonder if they are here for the summer. I have a feeder outside of the big glass door off the family room downstairs. I look right out at it and the suet feeder as well. When I lived up valley I had two feeders. The one out the living room window would have twenty or more peacefully taking turns, sharing. The one off the screened porch was a warzone. The place we spent so much time in the summer. The noise was deafening. Two or three birds would fight constantly.

Marilyn, what sorts of antiques? We are a long way from roses here.

No flowers yet so no hummers yet. Will put out feeders May 1st.

We do have them year round here in SoCal, but I never tire of seeing them.

I put out my feeder this week because I saw on the Hummingbird Migration map that they are in this area but I haven't seen any in my yard or feeder yet. I love watching them and feed them all season till they leave in early October. I live a little North East of Philadelphia.

We have Annas all winter and the Rufous arrived a few weeks ago. I feed all winter. One ritual l have is filling a suet feeder with cat fur and watching the birds harvest it for their nests. It is so cute to see them with their mouths full of fur.

That must be quite the sight Olychick. Cat fur of all things. And I have just been throwing it away.