"The year's at the spring"

Spring has been unfurling in dramatic fashion over the last week so that tomorrow, on the official first day of the season, my garden is going to be ready!  I spent Saturday cleaning up and pulling weeds, trying to get it ready for the fast pace of unfurling ahead.

The fiddleheads of the ferns are one of the most welcoming sights, unfurling one after another.  This act of unfurling  practically shouts "Spring" (type "spring unfurls" in a google search, and you'll find link after link to photos and blogposts.) 

While the ferns unfurl in the corners of the shade garden, the Sassafras buds open and reach for the sky.

Native to the Eastern U.S., Sassafras is a favorite of birds, flowers in spring and provides beautiful fall color. It loves the conditions in my garden and grows and multiples rapidly - we are often pulling up seedlings that spring up where they aren't wanted.

 

 The azalea buds swelled and began to open in just a matter of days this past week, as did the blooms on one of our dogwoods.

 

 And  the Chestnut Oak is waving its tassels, ready to fling them onto my deck.

When I look up at the budding trees, it's like a pastel version of fall - so much soft color.  But this color is the beginning of a season, not the end, and promises so much beauty to come.

"The year's at the spring
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
God's in His heaven -
All's right with the world!"
-  Robert Browning