A woman named Verna built my home and lived in it for more than 30 years. My neighbor tells me that a few years before she fell ill and died, she landscaped the yard. The house became a rental for several years after that, and her beds got little love from tenants. When I moved in, one of the first things I did was give them proper care. And while I’m not a huge fan of digging in the dirt, I haven’t been able to resist adding flowering plants of my own.
Spring is my favorite time of year anyway, but I love it even more because of the flowers in my yard as they come and go. My mom gave me my grape hyacinths; they are first to emerge.
I bought a single regular hyacinth plant to go with them. They emerge and begin to blossom at about the same time.
While the hyacinths usually come up first, my daffodils are always first to show color.
Here’s one that has fully opened. When my daffodils open, I know spring has fully arrived. It’s one of the best days of my year.
These Lily of the Valley are relative newcomers to my garden. Mom dug them out of her garden before she moved from our family home last year, and gave them to me. The little blooms don’t last very long.
I can’t decide whether I look forward more to my daffodils or my peonies. Verna planted three prolific peony bushes. I always cut the flowers as they bloom and bring them inside, filling my home with their fragrance. The flowers don’t last very long — a few days, whether left on the bush or cut and placed in water. The aged flowers don’t just wilt, they rot. The bushes bloom for one to two weeks.
Another latecomer to my gardens, another plant from Mom’s former garden, is this evening primrose. It blooms as the peonies are finishing up.
I know spring is about to fade into summer when the day lilies come up. They keep blooming all summer.
My tiger lilies are always the last to bloom, usually just after the first day of summer. My friend Dani gave me these.
I have other flowering plants in my yard, but these are my favorites. And they’re all milestones in the arrival and passage of spring, my favorite season.
