Secret Garden

I've been watching these flowers struggle to emerge lately. Some deep chills swept through, but it didn't get so cold that the ground froze. Today was a beautiful, warm day - warm enough to coax a wash of blooms. The grass is starting to peak out too.

The first flowers of spring

Kelly and I raked through the topsoil of the garden in the back and cleared out the winter's dead leaves. We scattered wildflower seeds that were like powder in our hands into the dirt and loosely raked more dirt on top of those. Kelly planted some in the containers that lined the fence. I untangled the hose and got my upstairs neighbor to turn on the water to the outside so we could soak it all. I found a bag of grass seed and rolled some of that around in the dirt. It's not a huge space, but our backyard garden has several great trees, including one Catalpa and a couple of types of birches. There is one spiral growing tree that I'm not sure about - I'll get back to you on this when I get my dad over to id it for me. With the grass and the wildflowers, it will one day be a perfect spot to read and nap in the sun amongst the butterflies, or to drink coffee and listen to music in the mornings.

Someone who lived here before us had the same instinct, and while we worked we enjoyed the first heralds of spring. These were the first flowers that grew this year, and I have a feeling that they portent much greater blooms that lie in store for the future.

    
I found this birdfeeder under a pile of old twigs and leaves on the back fence. My backyard has been described as a "Sanford and Son" mess of junk, but to me it's space full of funny surprises everywhere I turn.