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We are surrounded by pretty flowers right now, and in the face of so many crocuses I finally gave in and decided to try some of Kevin’s fancier camera lenses. It wasn’t a complete success, but not terrible either. Here are the crocuses in the rock wall:

The crocus and tulip blend outside our bedroom window – all golden in the sunshine.

And our new mini-iris on the kitchen counter.

Kevin chipped in another crocus photo – the crocuses next to the patio (tucked in under the family room window).

So pretty. It’s amazing how my vision zooms to the flowers at this time of year. Such attention-grabbing little growing things.

The sky (as seen from the driveway) after driving home from work and daycare.

Notably NOT black! And we’re still just barely beginning March! The mornings have shifted earlier, too (we’ve been seeing an unfortunate number of 6:35 AM starts to the day recently, and that will just get worse). Time to roll out the blackout curtains, I’m thinking.

A photo to document the completion of the pruning of this dumb bush.

I started last summer, and have made several additional attempts since then before several months of abandonment, and now I’m finally done. Hurrah! It’s one of the ones that sends up 6 foot shoots straight up into the sky, and also creates tons of dead wood each season. I removed the shoots and dead wood, and then did my best to remove all of the branches growing across the center. Again, it took a good half-dozen afternoons, but the thing is finally tamed. 🙂 I will enjoy it while it lasts.

I also did four of the mottled yellow-green bushes off to the left (in my head, they’re called “banana bushes” – no idea where I got that from or if it’s a real name). These ones grow like mad and are so straggly, so there is no careful deliberate pruning, more just a fast, enthusiastic hack job. Satisfying after the bush-of-seven-months.

PS. Here’s the front yard planter looking slightly melted but still colorful after a week of freezing temps and snow.

Figures that we’d have that weather starting two days after I planted all the ranunculus and primroses… The good news is that there are buds on all three plants, so we may yet have pretty blooms that last for weeks.

Another February, another onion that sprouted on the counter.

I used to plant them, but now I just plunk them in an ice cream bowl and watch them grow. This one is particularly magnificent – I’ve had it in the window for about a month now and it just keeps getting greener and fuller. The bulb is almost completely gone at this point (the onion skin shell makes it looks like its former shape and size, but if you pick it up, the onion inside is shriveled and soft). Perhaps I’ll make an omelet with the onion greens while they’re still tender? I’ll miss it on the counter, but I have a second onion that sprouted two weeks ago now and is also growing up a storm.

For size reference, you can see it on the window sill while the kiddo and I watch a squirrel on the fence.

Pretty growing thing in the face of all the winter grey.