I spent most of the last three snowy weeks hoping the tiny irises hiding hopefully in the pot near my kitchen window would freeze to death, and look: this weekend they opened up nicely.

I also saw through the window that my very first tulip had come up - one of the species tulips we'd planted the previous year right against the edge of the brick wall that holds up the east side of my garden. I'm pretty sure it's the Kaufman tulip, the Shakespeare variety - it can't be a greigii because the foliage is the wrong color and I'm pretty sure the Verdi is yellow. It's a good thing I keep track of these things ...

Of course the daffodils are all old news now (though they're still blooming) and the snowdrops in the lawn have gone to seed ... but tulip season is really just starting.