The bulbs are blooming here...took some pics. The hyacinth are much more beautiful in person. The clump on the left are a dark pink, the ones in the middle are a hot pink w/ dark red stems, the two on the right and far right are white. They are all fragrant. Also have some white narcissus w/ yellow and orange cups. Sedum autumn joy, dutch iris, a little lupine seedling that volunteered itself, and some crocus. Oh yeh and a hydrangea bush!

I used to live in Ankeny, IA, but I'm in South-central Kansas now. It is an entirely different climate down here. We had a VERY mild winter and really no snow but did get some rain. The Bermuda grass was already greening up in early March, which is rare. My mums were already putting on lots of new growth by mid-January. I just pinched them last night, since they were already 6-7 inches tall. Daffodils and tulips are in full bloom, and the Red Bud tree is starting to bloom as well.

My neighbor has a whole slew of what I think might be poppies coming up. They too have droopy heads and a very furry serrated edged leaf. What makes their heads droop? Is that how it is supposed to be? I'll have to figure out how to post pics. Our neighbors have a beautiful garden, albeit neglected for a few years(lady of the house, who worked the garden, passed this year). Since we just moved in last July, it has been so interesting to see what sprouts up as spring progresses. It is a bit sad, though. Someone obviously took great joy in tending to it. There are at least 20 varieties of tulips that I can see and irises and peonies will be flowering soon. It's all I can do to keep myself from going over there, weeding and spreading a little compost around! Unfortunately, they have a surly dog and I have 3 little ones and the two don't mix...so I am not able to help out. Also unfortunate is that the house might be a scrape, so all that work will be destroyed! so sad :(

Tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant are all blooming well. Thyme and African blue basil are bringing in the bees to pollinate the others. Pineapple sage is just starting. I was surprised at just how many flowers are starting to bloom, because it still looks mostly green in the beds. So here's my longer than expected list: daylilies, alliums, Johnny Jump Ups (way more than should be out there!), alyssum, dianthus, snapdragons, mums, Angelina sedum, Diamond Frost euphorbia, lavenders, pink skullcaps, coneflowers, scabiosa, autumn sage, mealy cup sage, Hot Lips salvia, lantanas, Blackfoot daisies, penstemon, verbenas, gaura, agastache, Karley Rose pennisetum, zinnias, cleomes, cosmos, petunias, calibrachoa (they over-wintered in our mild winter), pentas, catmint, hollyhocks, Shasta daisies, upright Veronica, lamb's ears, butterfly bushes, hydrangea, heuchera, cranesbill geraniums, betony, astilbe, balloon flowers, and the clematis are just about finished. The cosmos, yarrow, coreopsis, and tropical milkweed are almost there. I'm guessing the cooler weather last week put a hold on a lot of the plants, because they sure were not blooming when I was working in the cooler weather. Neither butterfly bush had blooms open yesterday, but when I looked today, wow, both of them did. It's so hot and muggy out there this afternoon, I just stayed out there long enough to see what was blooming. Last week chilly + this week sweltering = springtime. Michelle