There, for now at least, the incessant rain appears to have worked out its fury. But not before causing unprecedented havoc across Canada. Quebec seems to be the hardest-hit province for flooding. People have done their best to protect their homes, sandbagging furiously, the military has been called out to give assistance in evacuating people and helping with ongoing sandbagging. It seems as though all the rivers and lakes that rose so precipitously and dangerously have now crested. Not hard to have compassion for people caught in this dreadful situation. Some spring this has been, one to go down in the annals of atmospheric anomalies; at least we hope it will represent an anomaly and not what we will be have to increasingly expect from climate and changing weather conditions.

Our gardens don't appear to have suffered too much. Yesterday, though the rain had ceased, it was so cold, the temperature having dipped the night before to freezing, that we went through episodic snow flurry events throughout the day. Not a particularly lovely day, since beside the cold, the wind was wicked.  And in the ravine our brisk walk along trails suffocated in muck included some slipping-and-sliding challenges.

The Bleeding Hearts are beginning to flower; at least one small clump is, the others are working furiously to catch up, as it were. The red Trilliums in the garden are up, and surrounding them the colonized Foam Flowers are just beginning their bloom, as well.

And of course Grape Hyacinths and Pulmonaria, both early to bloom in the spring, are now in flower, as well, their bright blue presence an aesthetic salve to the otherwise bare and drab garden, though the Heucheras are rallying and the Lilies are coming up and the Irises, and the Peonies and even the Hostas are slowly beginning to emerge from the soil suffused with rain. Surprisingly, some of the Clematis vines have already begun to emerge.

All the hundreds of flower buds on the larger of the Magnolia trees have swelled, their carmine colour clearly visible, the buds on the cusp of opening to their lush flower form, but they are yet hesitating, waiting for the sun to return and bless them with the kiss of its warmth and light. The bright pink of the first of the Bergenias to bloom makes a very nice splash. And Forget-me-Nots are everywhere in the garden, sending up their little buds, ready to burst into tiny blue flowers.

Spring, after all, is hiding coquettishly behind all this bizarre weather, ready to surprise us with its tardy entrance. When it does, the tulips which have for days looked as though they were ready to reveal their petalled colour, will no doubt surprise us, as well.