Mornings never pass without their drama in the gardens. When I came down to prepare breakfast this morning, first glancing out the front door, my eye caught a black squirrel taking a ride on the bird feeder, daintily selecting tidbits to suit his own breakfast fancy.

Later, a small grey squirrel was seen scrubbing about below, not quite as acrobatically adventurous as his black counterpart, but taking advantage of all the seeds the previous actor-on-the-scene had scattered below.

After breakfast we did a turn in the garden ourselves, appreciating the alacrity with which our many clematis vines have begun their climb to seasonal maturity, anticipating their generosity in setting out buds and blossoms for our viewing pleasure. The climbing hydrangea has begun to set its floral display and the roses won't be long in putting out their buds for June flowering.

The bearded Irises have been holding their promises aloft with ever increasing speed and the more delicate-appearing Siberian Irises have been keeping pace very nicely, soon to present us with their bright array. The Mountain Bluet have also budded nicely, and so are the peonies, including our two twenty-year-old tree peonies which appeared to have suffered overwinter this year, but are now coming along nicely, after we cut back the old woody stalks.

The tiny roses are in full colourful bloom. The Datura I planted yesterday looks as though the transplantation shock, gentle as I was, troubled it; one of its more mature budding blooms looks fairly dismal, but it will recover and grow to a good height and profusion of blooms whose scent will pleasure the night-time atmosphere in the garden. We don't intend to nibble at any portion of this plant.

We couldn't resist a new type of Heuchera, and though its price was steep, considered it an investment in the garden's future; for they, like Plantain Lilies (Hostas), take readily to division. We also, for the first time, bought a Hellebore, and it too represents a future investment, as it comes to maturity and pleases us with its fine aesthetic presentations of lovely blooms early in spring, and perhaps on toward succeeding bloom months.