Spring Blooms & Baby Bunnies

I get really excited this time of year when the seasons shift and warmer temperatures wake up the garden. Understory trees are already leafing out and the towering big leaf maples are dripping with chartreuse blooms. It brings out the squirrels that enjoy munching on the nectar rich clusters. Japanese maples show tender leaves yet to unfurl and laurels are covered in subtle white blossom spikes.

The garden plants are leafing out—oak leaf, big leaf and pannicle hydrangeas, hardy geraniums, heuchera, ferns, a small yet already grand double file viburnum. The pieris has a fresh flush of bright pink leaves that will fade to white and then green.

The plants that really grab attention right now are the early bloomers, such as hellebores, camellias, flowering quince, forsythia and evergreen clamatis. One of my well established camellias with pink-red striped white blossoms has produced one pure pink-red blossom. This is the first time I’ve ever seen it do that.

I started clearing the layers of fall leaves from the garden and stumbled upon a nest of baby cottontail bunnies. I was surprised to learn that cottontails make nests in open spaces because predators are less likely to venture out in the open.