“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” – Cicero

Daisies, lilacs, tulips, daffodils, lilies, hyacinths, ranunculi, roses, poppies, sweet peas and freesias!!  These are a few of the flowers that bloom and headline the scene at springtime. Go outside and enjoy the fresh breezes and blossoms! Note the surrounding changes. In April, wherever you live – color, fragrance and new growth permeates. Search for wildflowers on hillsides, between crevices of rocks at the beach, lakeside, near river beds and alongside highways. Notice the pops of color. Ice plants, used as ground cover, burst at the seams with fluorescent “take me back to the 70s” hot pink and fuchsia purple mania. Smell the air. Freesia bulbs, jasmine vines and sweet peas perfume the outdoors with their delicate, pastel blooms. 

Daffodils, also known as jonquils, sweep the road paths along the mountain roads where I reside in swaths of yellow, green and white. Teeny yet fragrant purple and white Hyacinths are commonly the first tubers to sprout, often busting through an unexpected snowfall. When your spring bulbs’ blossoms wither, bind their stems into a braid or a simple twist with raffia, strips from an old nylon stocking or tomato Velcro ties. This allows the underground bulb to gain renewed strength for next year. Set annuals, such as pansies (if you live in a cool zone) or petunias (for warmer climes) between the knob corms (bulb seeds). You can cut the stalks back once they are dry and brittle.