Six on Saturday: April 28

What a difference a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures makes, not only in the garden, but in my outlook!  There are so many beautiful surprises that it is hard to choose only six!  Here’s the first selection.  Although the earliest daffodils were battered by winds, snow and hail, these later ones are absolutely perfect!  Daffodil “Avalon” below… And Daffodil “Dolly”    There are many more varieties, but these are my favorites for this bloom period.  Secondly, the first tulips have opened and even though they aren’t exactly the color I expected, I love them anyway.  Tulips have such grace and courage, and they are worth the effort of battling bunnies and deer who also love them, but not for their beauty!  Three is that it was finally dry enough that I could get a load of mulch.    It may not be beautiful, but I was thrilled to finally be able to begin mulching.  Remember, I didn’t get fall work done due to my back, so the gardens went into winter in sad circumstances.  Getting things tidied and mulched brings me great joy.  And in the process of mulching, I discovered number 4, these Muscari macrocarpum “Golden Fragrance.”    According to my records, I planted them here two years ago, but this is the first time I remember seeing them.  Number 5 is my new plaque for my Lady Cottage, made by my pottery-artist friend Patti Beck.    And lastly, another recent purchase is this  “Harvest Guard” crop cover  purchased just in the nick of time…..the gooseberries in bloom and newly planted things are going to need it…it’s going to go down to 29 degrees tonight!  Oh joy!

For more interesting “Six on Saturday” contributions, visit The Propagator, the instigator of this muse and helpful host.