We have a blooming crocus! 

And I can see the leaves of the tulip and jonquil bulbs we planted last fall along the driveway edge pushing through the grass.  I think we'll have blooms in a week or so, if the weather stays warm. 

Mr. L's been busy taking out the shrubs in front of our porch, so we can replace that with a flower garden--we just have to decide on the flowers.  He wants a trellis of morning glories, and I think snapdragons would be nice, and of course some geraniums in honor of Grandma, who loved them.  Nasturtiums, maybe.  We have a potted Carolina jessamine on our porch, but maybe that would be a good thing to put in the ground on one side of the steps, with the morning glories on the other.  I'll put some more bulbs there come fall, and next spring will bring a riot of colorful tulips to the front of our house. 

Our seed order from Baker Creek Heirlooms came in yesterday, so I now have visions of pole beans and shell peas climbing up corn and sunflower stalks on one side of the house, and cantaloupes and cucumbers on the hill by the shed, and eggplants and carrots and Anaheim chilis and beets and onions and potatoes in the raised bed in the back yard, and cherry tomatoes in the hanging baskets on the porch.  I'm thinking of planting a bed of herbs by the back door, if I can figure out how to transplant the evening primroses that are there already to the area by the bathroom window without killing them.  The herbs need the sun there more than the primroses do.  I just wish I had realized that garlic is a fall-planter, since it's a bulb, too, but I'll catch that next year.  Of course, none of this may grow; this is our first year attempting any sort of real food garden.  However, in my mind's eye, I see a lush landscape of edible goodness, and I hope it will come to fruition.

I plan to go to the garden center this weekend to see if I can find a camellia bush to put by the shed under the huge oak.  My in-laws sent me a birthday check, and I decided the gift of pretty red flowers each year was a good thing to buy with it.  Wishing you all signs of spring at your house!