First signs of Spring - April 10th, 2011

Ah, spring!  I think that I'm safe in saying that spring has arrived in Calgary!  After our snowy winter, it's taking awhile for all the snow to melt, but we've had a few nice days in a row and it's finally melting.  And amazingly under the melting snow, the first signs of spring are emerging!  It's so exciting!  The photo below is from our backyard and, as you can see, the snow has melted quite a bit, but there's still a ways to go. 

By the back, south facing wall of the house, the snow melted a while ago since it's a bit warmer there.  And look!  We have tulip leaves!  And the lady's mantle has some leaves and even the irises are poking through.  And look what we found in the vegetable garden - out first flowers!  We had planted violas as a border to the raised beds last year and usually they survive the winter if we have enough snow cover.  I love violas!  They never let a little bit of snow bother them!

That's it for now.  We are of the the Calgary Horticultural Society Garden Show this afternoon.  I'll share the treasures we find with you in the next post.