The usually un-noticed lilac hedge when it is in full bloom.

Apple blossoms.

I grew up on an old orchard, and that smell must have embedded itself in my memory. Just the merest whiff of apple blossom, and I go into full-fledged Proustian recall mode. To me, it is the smell of spring.

Oh yes... indeedy-do... behold and be amazed by the grace, splendor, and elegance of what follows...

Osmunda cinnamomea
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Osmunda claytoniana (kissing cousin to the former)
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Springtime in Maine is the best time of year! I am particularly fond of the "ephemerals" also visible... the wild Lily of the Valley, and the marvelous little trout lilies whose yellow, pendant flowers follow the sword-shaped, mottles leaves. All of which are gone by July... pure magic!

Well, my grass is huge, (my DH dumped a ton of fertilizer & seed on it), it's great to see last year's perennials reemerging-daylilies, agastache, heucheras, tricyrtis, hostas, it's a pleasure, every day, going out into the garden...

I took my daughter to a herring run to watch the sea gulls feast tonight. A nice green crop of skunk cabbage and unfurling ferns and little bunnies hopping around is pretty good stuff as well. If only the ocean wasn't so cold and chilling this sand bar down, it would be a nice spring.

Thurday night it was roller blading. We went by a funky dead dolphin along the marsh, but the greenery and more bunnies, made up for it. You can't always smell the roses, I guess.

This year with all the huge amount of rain in March and April, (we got Seattle's winter), it seemed more like winter than spring. Now that we have slipped right into the summer fog pattern here along the coast, it seems more like summer. Spring really starts here, (at least with the first heavy blooming), back in November, with things like the Sasanqua Camellias, Paperwhites, Magnolias, etc. At this point it is already 3 or 4 months into spring bloom, and the Japanese Cherries are still blooming,the first of the Trumpet Trees(Tabebuias), Rhododendrons, Japonica Camellias, and of course our native California poppies and Ceanothus. Proteas and Pinchushion Leucospermums and Grevilleas and Bougainvilleas are all just blooming away, as are Wisteria and Roses, and Trumpet vines like Bignonia capreolata. Some of the biggest hits in bloom at an open garden tour were the Ageratum corymbosa, Lotus bertholotii, Salvia splendens 'Van Houttii', Tibouchina organensis, Justicia brandegiana, Strelitzia juncea, Passiflora membranacea, Linaria reticulata, Aeonium arboreum atropurpureum and Echeveria x imbricata. Most have been blooming now for several months this year.

I think parts of redwood belt have much higher precipitation than up here, so maybe when we have a rainy winter we are having "California's winter".

I also love the contrast between the lawn edge and the dark chocolate color of the front beds. My cherry blooms are gone and I'm sad about that, as well as my tulips, but the mock orange holds the lead role now. The fragrance that wafts from it in every direction is unbelievable, and it gives me inspiration to roam the gardens every time I walk out onto the front porch. I wish it were a longer bloomer.

Yes, spring has indeed sprung. I am deluged by requests for design assistance ("can you do it by next weekend?" - where WERE these folks 4-5 months ago in an area where design and installation can be carried out in any month of the year?!?), the nursery is teeming with customers and deliveries of new stock are coming in so fast I can't keep up with them, I need a goat to keep what little lawn I do have in check, all sorts of vicious weeds are appearing in my garden overnight and my dogs are getting tangled in the underbrush that used to be my woodland garden, my advanced age onset of allergies are kicking up, I haven't seen my family in weeks and if I'm lucky, I can squeeze out 5 hours of sleep a night.

You guys are too darn romantic. I am already yearning for the peace and quiet of midsummer when the world forgets about gardening and takes a vacation. Or better yet, November.

Ah, spring. The steady rain of animal parts from the juniper clump where the Great Horned Owls nested this year: mallard wings, a blizzard of Barn Owl feathers, the hind end of a cottontail, a Ring-necked Rheasant drumstick... The two baby owls screech all the time for more food. The male Robins are having vicious territorial fights, the Magpies are on the lookout for fresh Robin eggs. And, oh yeah, the weeds are flourishing.

Spring is her alright and there is always touchup work to do. That, plus a few major projects, and I don't have to pay gym dues.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring

Well, at least the nursery isn't teaming with vicious customers.

Yes, the grass is 'riz, and the fragrance from the Viburnum carlesii 'Cayuga' wafts across the garden whenever a bit of breeze picks up.

What impresses most this time of year (beyond how fast things are changing) are the seemingly infinite tones of green - every shade of green that's ever been described and more that don't have names in any language (to borrow a phrase from Allan Lacy).

This is also the season of gold and chartreuse:

eric, my polarized sunglasses make all the greens *more so*, it's really cool...

Thankfully, no rain of animal parts here, kelly, I guess I am missing out. But the orange blossoms are opening, and that is *so* intoxicating.

Many of these plants are new to me, so I don't know if spring is what made them burst forth, or if it's a last gasp at reproduction before I unwittingly kill them, but...my bromeliads and tillandsias are blooming!

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The sound of toad-trill in the vernal ponds. Woodpeckers' shrieking "laughter." Chickadees making their breeding-season calls, and white-throated sparrows singing "O' Sweet Canadaaaaaaa" (even in New England). The pungent aroma of damp, freshly turned earth. The dusky-sweet scent of forsythia. Spring isn't only about sights, it's about sounds and fragrances as well.

...and allergies.

Patty
p.s. still can't eat any breakfast since reading about raining animal parts.

Patty,
There are powerful drugs that can allow even allergy-prone people to enjoy spring. Sort of.

Cady, yes there are! And I am on about 4 of them because I MUST garden and I MUST sleep with my windows open. Even though I know that heady aroma that surrounds us at this time of year is filled with things I am allergic to, I can't help but drink it in. I LOVE spring (especially spring in Connecticut) but my doctor doesn't love me loving spring so much!

Patty

Are there powerful drugs that can allow landscape designers to remain cheerful despite of the onslaught of clients every May that wouldn't return your calls November through March? I feel your pain Pam :)

Shizac,
I believe the treatment you're thinking of is called "lobotomy"
;-D

Well that seems a bit drastic, cady. Guess I'll stick with "Margarita" :-)

Shizac---may I recommend "valium?" It's getting me through the last five weeks of HS...(The Boy graduates June 10.)

Spring HAD sprung here--and now it appears to be gone again. I'm hoping it will reappear tomorrow.

kelly--a rain of animal parts seems a small price to pay for owlets...but then, I'm not living with it. I'd be sad about the barn owl bits...I had no idea Great Horned Owls predated Barn owls!

melanie

I nominate the contributions to this thread for a gw oscar Eric's grass catches the sun and gives it back and catkim's pictures are the equivelant of "In spring a young man's fancy turns to,..." and cady's fauna poem is magic, if "vernal ponds" doesn't turn you on or David's envy list either then there is no hope. Pam is as romantic as anyone so don't be fooled and of course Andrews love of bunnies is well documented.
Spring is a time for renewal, the tired suddenly find energy and now this forum is suddenly alive (cue Julie Andrews).

Spring sprang quite awhile ago here in the Low Country. Summer is coming into full bloom. Due to the very warm winter we did not experience a die back of fall blooming perennials and they are now coming into bloom. Unusual. This is the time to prune Camellias and azaleas which are numerous around the property. This takes a bit of time.

A Virginia rail is nesting in the salt water reeds by the lake's edge. She chatters all day long. A ten foot alligator spends most of the day under one bird feeder waiting for squirrels to come hopping along. It is doing a good job of culling the tree rat population. The two of us eye each other as I work around the yard. He has his space and I have mine. I just hope he remembers which is which.

Our town is flooded with tourists. It is impossible to find a parking place downtown. The river, which is the inland waterway, is also crowded with boats returning north after a Florida winter. They drop anchor and visit for a few days. We have been discovered and named 'one of the best of' type communities. And it is. And the gardening is wonderful twelve months of the year.

The first black flies (not generally a nuisance for us in our coastal locale) appeared on Sunday. No mosquitos yet, but any time now. Frontline has kept ticks in check, reapplied this very morning to fussing felines and an oblivious dog.

I have yet to photograph the ferns and the spring ephemerals, but will try to between raindrops in the coming week. Hydrangeas to be uncovered at next opportune moment; we ran out of time today.

Nandina's boaters will be here within a few short weeks... "downeast" is where they ALL want to be for July/August/September. Fun to establish friendships with "bluewater" cruisers who have arrived "early" from faraway homeports (New Zealand, Australia, Europe).

Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate', actually.size>

And now back to Julie Andrews. Or Martha Stewart.

I treated myself to a couple of Cosmopolitans last night (instant attitude adjustment!), stalled all the design appointments until AFTER Mother's Day weekend (the retail nursery biz big whooha of the season) and scheduled some desperately needed PTO. I am feeling a bit better about spring this morning :-)

A semi full of cool, new plants at the nursery didn't hurt much either.

Gardengal,
Just to give you an idea of where my head is "at," when I read your post about "Cosmopolitans," my first thought was -- "What a great idea to treat herself to two nice pots of Miscanthus sinensis "Cosmopolitan"! (a nice variagated grass).

It's spring indeed.