There are some rituals that are worth repeating every year!
As Easter approaches, I start to do tours of my gardens to check what brave souls are making their appearances. The first flowers every year are my snowdrops and yellow anemones. These are inherited flowers that were growing behind our store when we bought the property. As early as mid February, I can find these sturdy little beauties waiting to pop up through the snow if there is even a small hint of a thaw. 
The next to show their faces is this little family of crocuses. They aren’t particularly dramatic but I have been able to count on finding them in the same spot every year ever since we bought the store. It is amazing how they can look so fragile yet be hardy enough to bloom as soon as they get a bit of warm sunlight.
A few years ago I planted Asian Irises in front of the store. This lone soldier
somehow wandered to the side garden. His brothers are barely peaking out of the ground. He is making sure he has his days 
of glory before the daffodils he is surrounded by overshadow him. He has a dramatic yellow throat that he isn’t making too public. I was amused to see what a hurry these 
daffodils were in They pushed the frozen soil up so they could escape their winter hibernation!
At home I had to go searching for signs of life under a covering of periwinkle in my back garden. But in front of the house which has a southern exposure, there is more evidence of life. I am especially excited to watch the progress this year. I planted quite a few new bulbs last fall. However, these are late spring varieties so I will have to be patient! 
