Spring!

Pear tree, I think

It's hard to say it's really here, but I think it's officially spring!

Fuzzy new leaves on the apple tree

It seems like we went almost directly from winter to summer - especially with that last storm taking off most of the blossoms from the trees and plants that were brave enough to be out already.

Peony bud 

But the plants that weren't damaged - or were able to bounce back - seem to be determined to make up for the loss of the blooms around them. (And in the case of the flowering crab apple tree, while I'm missing the hundreds of beautiful blossoms it usually puts out, I'm kind of looking forward to a dramatically smaller crop of crab apples to deal with in a few months!) The peony bushes seem to have grown from sticks to budding in less than a week. And the fields of dandelions I've loved driving by all week are already turning white!

Spring is absolutely my favorite time of year, watching everything turn to green and start to grow. And while I didn't enjoy the late snows, I will admit, the extra moisture really helped things turn green around here. I can't tell you the last time our grass was this green - or the local lakes were this full. It probably won't last, so I'm going to enjoy every second of it.