Visions of spring

Today the weather was beautiful and my husband and I spent some quality time in the garden. We just bought our first house last September, and we are attempting to learn lawn and garden care. It's a pretty steep learning curve! The one plant that I am pretty good with is roses. At our last house, there were a number of pretty rose bushes. We had a gardener, but they didn't really care for the roses. I couldn't let them flounder, so I learned the very basics of how to care for them. I just love them! I think part of my love stems from wonder - roses did not flourish so easily in Virginia, where I grew up. It was possible to grow them with the right care, but in Northern California, you pretty much just need to prune, water, and feed every once in while, and they simply thrive.

Here are some of the blooms from our garden this afternoon:

Eventually, we'd like to have a small vegetable and herb garden. We spent some time at the neighborhood nursery after our weed-a-thon session, planning for the future of our flower beds. In the backyard, we have a great flower bed that runs along the perimeter of our yard, along the fence. In the front yard, there is a bed along the wall of the garage, next to the sidewalk leading up to our front door, and a garden extending along the exterior of the structure from the front door to the edge of the house. Needless to say, we've got lots to do! These are some of the plants on my wish list: butterfly bushes, azaleas, lilacs (some are more hearty than others), gardenias, camellias, foxgloves, and lilies (I like calla lilies better than day lilies). And two special plants: a Meyer lemon tree (dwarf, probably - we don't have a large yard!), and a bird of paradise. The bird of paradise has great sentimental value because my husband and I got married in Maui. We have always loved tropical plants, and that one especially reminds us of our wedding. Plus, we had one in our backyard at our last house, the one with the roses. It was such a special day when we came out and saw it blooming for the first time.

We are going to hopefully work on our yard some next weekend, but until then - I've got about eight to ten rose bushes that are just bursting with buds. Some of them probably have 20 buds just waiting to bloom!

I am so thankful for California's bounty. The vegetables and now the flowers! It's just a wonderful time of year, and this is an amazing place to experience spring.