We Must Cultivate Our Garden

Ah, everything is so green and beautiful in the backyard--the triumph of spring indeed!  For instance, take a look at what our dormant fish pond looked like on a glum day in March....O, such a depressing site!  It all seemed a bit hopeless at this point...                                                                                                              

If winter comes, can spring be far behind?

                            --Percy Bysshe Shelley

A vast improvement wouldn't you say? Now the fish just have to migrate from the aquarium and a few more annuals have to be added; then all will be as it should!

We've spent a lot of time out here the past few days--much has to be done before gnats and no-see-ums arrive to make us irritable. Hostas have been split and shifted, Coral Bells with deep bronze-colored leaves have been added, and Sedum has  been transplanted hither and yon (locating them all for watering is something of a memory game). A myriad of different Coleus plants await their fate. Who knew there were so many different colors?--this is but a fraction of what was available!: 

While doing all this, we were repeatedly serenaded by some very melodic Baltimore Orioles, of which we seem to have many this year.  We often joke that Orioles sound like they're desperately searching for a tune--they pipe out a series of sweet, clear notes & trills, but it never quite forms a melody. We must have a very precocious flock this year, as I swear they are singing the first six notes of The Mexican Hat Dance.  (Go ahead, run that through your mind--but I warn you, it's an earworm.)  I know Orioles go south for the winter...I'm convinced this group goes South of the Border! Ole!

And on that happy note.....I shall literally & figuratively go cultivate my garden...in a Voltaire-ian sort of way.