Rita's Garden

These miniature irises are growing in my friend Rita's garden.  Their colour is just so rich.

 Rita has a lovely collection of Hellebore plants.

 Some have very delicate leaves and colours.

 Others are darker and richer coloured.

 The contrast against the green leaves is lovely.

 Here tree peony is putting forth new growth.

 If you look closely you can see the first robin of Spring flying away, it didn't want it's picture taken.

 The witch hazel is showing signs of Spring growth.

 These almost look waxy in their appearance.

  A crocus blown over by the wind off the Fraser River.

 Pink and purple with a dash of green, traditional Spring colours coming out to visit.

Spring forward tonight with the time change!

Valentine Flowers

On Valentine's Day I took a walk over to my friend Rita's to have coffee.  What a delight to see some early signs of Spring pushing their way into view.  It was interesting to see more yellow crocuses than blue or white out in bloom this early in the season.

 Snowdrops were making an appearance also.

 This plain yellow crocus was doing battle with some mulch.

 In Rita's Garden there were a few snowdrops in full bloom.

 This ones petals looked a bit worse for wear, but an interesting shape.

 Her Hellebore were coming out to put on a fine show.

 I love how this one looks like an umbrella with the pretty stamens below.

 What an interesting wave design on this cyclamen.

 Rita cheated with a forced daffodil, but had one that was almost ready to break into bloom elsewhere in her garden.

 More Hellebore blossoms and buds.

 A wild looking pincushion daisy along the walk home.

 This fiery red one caught my eye.

 The Rhododendrons are coming into full bloom.

 Some snowdrops in a neighbour's garden beside my entry door.

14 pictures of flowers for Valentine's Day!

Today is the first day of Spring! It is also the anniversary of my father's birthday. Last Saturday I went to a rug hooking show, the acorn rug below was done by my friend Sandi Hill.Another friend Debbie Matthews made the sleeping cat.

Sandi Hill hooked the quilters.

Later that day I went and looked at the abundant Spring flowers already blooming This green iris caught my eye.

This three headed daffodil was showing off.

There are lots of grape hyacinths blooming below the rose bushes.

I love the pink and blue contrast against the green in this photo.

More delightful daffodils in full bloom. Some of the local growers had some blooming since the beginning of January!

This daffodil looks like it is having a bad hair day.

This morning the skies were clear and blue, the cherry blossoms have been in bloom for more than a week in my courtyard.

This hellebore had a ladybug checking it out.

More daffodils and hellebore.

This eagle flew by and then rested on top of the local hotel down on the quay. I had seen him earlier when I was having breakfast, but he flew away before I could photograph him. There is often a second one keeping him company.

Spring flowers are popping up all along the quay. This morning I went for a walk after breakfast and took some pictures. These beautiful flowers grow in my friend Rita's garden, I don't recall their name but will find out and label them later. They are called hellebores.

I love the purple veins on these crocuses.

Here some daffodils are pushing through the soil and reaching up towards the sun.

These star shaped flowers are growing in large clumps in the gardens along the boardwalk.

The rhododendrons are pushing foward, these plants flower very early in the year and often bloom later again.