m. daybreak is beautiful even after petals are shed 
akebia flowers parachute from cherry espalier 
close up of cherry espalier with akebia buds 
here is a small white one, with an oak leaf for scale
another white one, wish i had the name of it
a common red epimedium, which, in addition to the dime-sized red flowers, has red edging on the new foliage, which is so pretty en masse
the flowering almond is unusually vivid this year 
i was excited to see this daff back-lit by the sun
columbine are just opening
everyone must have bleeding hearts! here they dangle in front of variegated solomon's seal.
at its foot is ligularia desdemona and a double woodland anemone...
whip out the macro, these flowers are about the size of a dime...
what i like about redbuds is that they flower from the bark; here is the base of mine...
ah spring!
this is my favorite garden with variegated solomon's seal, epimediums, vancouveria, maiden hair fern, nectaroscordium, hostas, brunnera, and more. you may want to click on the picture to enlarge and see detail.
what's pretty about daybreak is the multiple greens and pinks in the flowers...
here is my little daybreak...
camellia spring promise, which i didn't get around to posting last week
camellia april dawn, one of my favorites
leonard messel is just done blooming, but the top looked very pretty today...
poeticus...
daffs in the north garden, curly quince behind them on the left...
epimedium orange king...
can't remember which narcissus this is... do you know?
all i can say, is "wowie!"
cow bird, how did you sneak into this post? brood parasite becomes blog parasite?
this photo just does not do it justice, but here is the whole tree, not yet in full bloom. some of the buds had freeze damage on one side:
the flowers are larger than my hand!!!!!!
ha, i finally got you mr. cowbird, you brood parasite, you!
the orangerie daffs are blooming en masse, i'll take another pic of the group later
i've found 3 praying mantis egg cases in the garden, this one on a budding almond
bought a pieris japonica 'dorothy wycoff' for the front yard
i have been seeing male and female cowbirds for the first time ever. the male, with its distinct brown head and black iridescent body, was too quick for me today. this female is probably going to lay her eggs in another bird's nest, where its larger hatchlings will likely kill the others. cowbirds are the only brood parasites in our area.
ok, i'm happy to have my few shivering daffs for the moment!!!!
it's an upside-down epimedium acuminatum, upside-down so that it looks like a fool's hat! this photo was brazenly borrowed from the university of british columbia, vancouver, botanical garden website.
