Spring

 

    Spring has arrived here in the San Bernardino Mountains after a very hard winter. 

Things are greening up, and it’s a lovely time to walk by the lake.  

Cherry and apple trees are blooming.  

Dogwood blossoms are forming on the dogwood trees.  Soon there will be beautiful, large white flowers. 

Patches of wild little yellow violets are blooming in sunny spots in the forest.  

And daffodils are showing their cheerful faces on the hillsides.  The lilacs have put out little new green leaves, but no blooms yet.  They’ll probably bloom in another week or so.  

The small clump of violets that I transplanted from my mother’s garden over 40 years ago are blooming.  They’ve tried to spread throughout the garden, but the raccoons, cats and skunks keep squashing them.  I had to cover this, the original clump, with a chicken wire cloche to save them (removed for the photo).  

A beautiful spring sunset at Lake Gregory.

Skywatch Friday

The skies have been relentlessly blue for far too long.  We have some chances for rain next week, and I'm praying the clouds will deliver. 

My mother's violets are liking all the sun.  I'm surprised they've managed to make any blooms, given the tiny amount of rain they've had this season...and, due to where they're located, I always forget to water them!  Soon, I'm going to transplant them to a spot where I won't forget to give them water.

To see beautiful skies around the world click here.

A Quote for Monday

"My breath would catch at the sight of violets, so common in the woods at home, so surprising in the mountains.  The violets' message was 'Keep up your courage, stay true to what you believe in'."  Jessica Stern

A Quote for Monday

"The splendor of the lily and the whiteness of the rose do not rob the little violet of its scent.  If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness."  Therese of Lisieux

The violet is the flower for the month of February, although whoever decided that it should be so must have lived in a very temperate climate.  I took this in April of 2012.

First Violets of Spring

I was beginning to wonder if my violets would come back this Spring. Usually they're up long before now; sometimes they've even bloomed as early as February (well, only once, but still...). I have violets all over my garden, front yard and back, and they are precious to me. Why? When I moved into this cottage in the early 1970's, I dug up some violets from my mother's garden. They bloomed, spread and thrived in the following years.

Mama passed in 1994. She could be likened to violets; beautiful but tenacious, delicate-looking but with an inner core of pure steel, able to not only withstand harsh, devastating storms but go on to become even stronger after the storms retreated. The words have not been invented to convey how much I miss her. But she comes back to me...every Spring when her violets bloom.