There is nothing quite like spring, with its message of hope and renewal. When the garden has begun to rouse itself from its long winter sleep. Perennials stretching their green tendrils to welcome the kiss of the sun, the soft life-affirming touch of rainfalls, exiting from the rich loamy soil that sheltered them and has now prepared to lift them aloft to the world above.

To, in fact, our grateful eyes, witnessing the ever-repeating miracle of rebirth and restoration. Trees gradually recapturing their green presence - although it seems by miraculous leaps and bounds, the transition seems both inspiringly incremental and furiously swift. But peering minutely about in the garden even daily changes are visible, amazingly so. Where the day before there was no activity in a specific area, suddenly up comes the longed-for specimen.

The earliest of the trees to burst into bloom are the magnolias, with their saucer-sized flowers before leafing out, followed in succession by the flowering crabs, displaying their glory in turn, and the
bridal spirea awaiting its opportunity to flush in white bridal-veil splendour.

The hostas are beginning their time in the shade and sun, at just the right time to be carefully separated, and planted elsewhere in the garden, their wonderful foliage providing decor wherever they're placed, plants that never cease to give pleasure. Feeling the warmth of the sun on my back, digging into the moist, welcoming soil is amazingly satisfying, the pleasurable anticipation of rewards enticing one to continue, to assess where best each plant can be allowed to proliferate for greatest aesthetic effect.

Time now as well, with danger of night-time frost fast dissipating, to begin planting the urns and garden pots with the annuals that will continue to give us surprises throughout the summer months.