Mother Nature has not forsaken us

 I've no idea what these tiny but pretty, very blue flowers are.  Some years there have been many of them popping up in one patch in the garden.  This year there doesn't seem to be as many.  There is only this one in bloom, the rest are either still in bud or haven't put out any flower stems yet at all.  There are less than half of the little leaf sets than in other years.  They are a lovely blue though, which I don't see very often in flowers.

 Yesterday I found these by accident, under a shrub near the front door.   They are such a pretty shade of purple.  There are only the three little blooms and slightly misshaped at that, but they were such a wonderful sight.







These are growing where there weren't crocuses before.  However then I remembered that I'd planted some last fall, in that particular flower bed.   The beds were littered with leaves and pine needles from the winter, but the heavy rains, the ice storm and lots of winds have made it worse. Once they dry out it will take a bit of raking to clean them up.

These ones are where I hadn't expected them, in a little patch that the chooks like to scratch and peck at.   What a glorious burst of sunshine colours which on once again, another grey day, makes the heart sing.  While it has been a slow and dreary progression to spring, it seems to be coming, whether the winter wants to give up or not.  Thank goodness for that!  While the crocuses that were established have disappeared, it's wonderful that they are growing elsewhere in the garden.   I shall have to plant more this fall and forget about them too, as the surprise of finding them is lovely.