Carpe Diem #687 first flowers of spring

Today I decided it was time to clean all the  leaves out of my garden.  I could see a few crocus dotting the surface but mostly just dry leaves. Hard to believe we had 15″ of snow just days ago. So rake, camera, gloves and wheel barrow at hand I started working.

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soft fragrance
springs first flowers
announcing joy

Taking a short break i walked around the house.  In the shade I found one daffodil blooming.

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in the yard
one tiny daffodil
seeks the sun

Getting back to work, i found lots of plants growing under the leaf litter.  I raked up over eight wheelbarrows full of   leaves. Some of this was dry leaves, but a lot was wet and soppy.  The poor plants underneath this were screaming for sun.

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under leaf litter
an early tulip
raises her head

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unearthed
anemic flowers
praise the sun

I kept my eyes open for interesting things.  Was hoping to find a cardinal or bluejay feather, no such luck.

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in the garden
amidst the spring growth
a shiny blue ribbon

So I worked most of the day until i was just too tired to do any more.  I left a few piles of leaves the front yard  for my husband to take care of.  As I walked from my dumping site, I stopped and picked up bricks  to redo the front border.  I didn’t get around to pulling the weeds, but most of the leaves are gone and the daffodils, tulips and hyacinths and  can now get sunlight.  With the predicted rain and the fact that I’m going to be gone next week it was an important task to complete.   I also found that most of my varieties of daffodils survived transplanting from the fall. (I have seven different kinds of narcissus.)  After the daffodils bloom, I will be eagerly awaiting the blooming of the dogwood trees and my Iris.

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garden cleanup
the smell of spring
beneath my nail

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as shadows grow
blossoms close their petals
awaiting dawn