WOW, I've never seen daffodils budded up soooo early here in Alberta! ... and your other plants are all motoring along quickly also! The long range forecast looks really good for Calgary and with overnight temps dropping no more than just a few degrees below freezing, so it would appear that your plants just might be safe and those daffodils will be blooming before too long :)

Been doing lots of clean up here and it's great to be able to get such an early jump on the season and lessen the workload by not having so much to do all at once, such as with last years very cold and delayed spring.

I remember when I was a kid, my mother had set the tomatoes out along the south side of the house on April 27 th, it was such a warm spring and I think that only once had she needed to cover those plants.

Wow, you guys are lucky. We're still under a ton of snow, spring will be definitely in May, i.e. if mother nature doesn't decide to do otherwise....

You're way ahead of us for sure! Things are at a more normal pace for us. The only bare spots (barely bare, at that!) are close to the house. Nothing has poked its head above ground as yet. Enjoy!

Well, we have had the typical roller coaster ride in the last few days - from above normal to wintry weather and back to beautiful, warm, sunny spring weather. Just as the crocus were getting going this happened.......

and now we are back to this!!!!!!

Wow, shillanorth, thank you for the photos, your crocuses look fantastic! What an incredibly drastic change.

I am itching for my first daffodil bloom, it is getting close.

Thank you tworsz, true_blue & marcia, we are indeed very lucky this year! It makes up for the horrible winter last year.

Those crocuses are so lovely, it helps to bear with the snow showers we're having right now....

They are calling for mixed precipitation on Monday, so they may get buried again!!!! I just put them in last fall, so it`s been a lovely, early spring present.

This IS nice but back to winter with around 9" here and still coming down.
I know the south had lack of the good stuff, [and melted all] plants might be suffering, none of the tulips showing here.

Hi everyone! I am back!

It's great to see these signs of spring! Such a nice, welcoming sight. Thanks for posting these lovely photos!

I just went out to the backyard and inspected my plants closely for the first time since last fall and I was so excited to see that the lenten roses that I planted last year survived, and also there were flower buds on all three of them! I just can't wait to see them bloom!

That`s good to know that Lenten rose will grow here at least through this very mild winter down here. What variety did you plant ostrich?

Mine was Ivory Prince which was supposed to be hardier.... we shall see how it does over the long run! :-)

OMG, i have hellebore envy!! I tried once too and they came through the first winter but never bloomed and didn't come through the second. I do have a spot, though, come to think of it..... :)

Nice to see you make your return Ostrich. Sure had been a heck of a very mild winter and only wish it could always be this way!

I have never grown hellebores, though have three on order from Fraser Thimble Farms. I believe I have a good position for them on the north side of a birch tree grove where the snow lingers a bit later to provide additional protection.

Hi marcia and twrosz! I planted my hellebores in a pretty sheltered location, right between a fence and some other bigger shrub, and it faces east too. So it's away from this scary chinook wind we have in Calgary.... let's see how they do beyond the first season! ;-)

Do they prefer shade? The are i planted them in before faced northwest and had a lot of shade. I have an area in a corner facing southwest that i'm pretty sure would support some less hardy plants and was thinking of putting them there. It would be fairly dry unless i piled extra snow on in spring and quite warm. It's the only place around the house that is mostly bared off right now and there's nothing there! LOL Must remedy that situation...

Marcia, Hellebores are traditionally shade plants....

So much for that idea! LOL Will continue to have hellebore envy.

Big daffodil lover here! I usually can't resist adding a few new varieties each autumn!

So cheerful!!! Mine are back under the snow - AGAIN!!!!

Great showing everyone!

Here I have sign of live of another kind, from two days ago, pollen coming in and these girls are very happy!

Nice to see the bees already bringing in the pollen. I imagine the hives are strong after the mild winter we enjoyed.

Lots of perennials are already showing themselves and even the 'Incrediball' and 'Twist and Shout' hydrangeas planted near the house are pushing new growth.