Early Signs of Spring

The calendar says Spring has arrived 10 days ago, but it sure doesn't feel that way. With night time temperatures still in the 20s some nights, it almost feels hopeless. Yet, plants are slowly emerging from the ground, showing greenery even if they do nothing more than just sprout. Aside from that, there are other telltale signs. Today while working on trays in my little unheated greenhouse it warmed up to nearly 70 degrees inside. That felt nice. Earlier in the week on warmer nights I heard the Spring Peepers. Just yesterday morning, I saw my first Bluebird and flock of Pine Warblers for this year. So birds are singing  and on the move, frogs are emerging, along with the Daffodils. Daylight in the early evening. All good signs. I am hoping to see the return of "Rana" my resident Green Frog from last year. She is quite a ham and doesn't mind my getting close to photograph her. She is just adorable and loves to hang out in the bog and nursery pots.

Rana, playing peekaboo.

I am surveying the property to see where I would like to expand the nursery area. I am hoping to have larger size plants in a few species this year as well as a few shrubs and trees. I plan to expand the pollinator garden and install Bluebird nest boxes. There is much work to be done, but I am up to it. Now if it would just get warm......

Update 4/6/2015: I saw my first Mourning Cloak in the back yard yesterday. There was one in the same vicinity last year as well, so I am thinking they may have a favored hibernation spot here.