Tete-a-Tete daffodils are sprinkled all over the yard. These are near the back door.

In the east yard, the Star Magnolia is beginning to bloom.

Looks like a snowstorm doesn’t it?

Close-up, the blossoms are ivory colored. When they open, they will be a lovely soft white.

‘Ice Follies’ daffodils bloom in the front yard.

The red shoots of peonies are breaking cover. These are next to the mailbox.

Cheery, cheery daffodils…

Daylilies are greening the little woods behind the house.

And the bloodroot is popping up in the woods, too.

The bloodroot flowers are some of the brightest white blossoms we have in the garden.

Bluebells are showing their buds.

And near the front door, these late blooming crocus adorn the pine stump.

We plan to work in the yard for a while today. Temps are supposed to be 65* or better. We have some veggies to plant, too, so will try to get that done today. The spinach and lettuce are already coming up.

Stop by Jean’s at Bloomin’ Tuesday to see what is blooming in other gardens!

~~Rhonda

The mini daffs ‘Tete-a-Tete’ opened yesterday.

The oak tree is getting a faint fuzzy haze as the buds swell.

A light breeze ruffled the water in the birdbath.

And the cats sat in attendance.

Zak

Happy

And Oreo, who has had a few altercations with a feral male who comes through the yard now and then.

Late afternoon, early spring. Lovely.

~~Rhonda

We spent some time outside, of course. DH worked around the yard, cleared a flower bed or two, cut down a tree, planted some lettuce and spinach. I enjoyed the flowers…crocus blossoms and daffodil buds.

There are a lot of promises in the garden.

Daffodil promises…

Dogwood promises…

Star magnolia promises…

Just to mention a few. It reminds me of a larger promise. One I can rely on.

” And this is what He promises us–even eternal life .” 1 John 2:25

~~Rhonda

What you don’t see is a picture of me smiling, but rest assured…I am!

Visit other gardens and their gardeners at Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.

~~Rhonda

It looks rather barren until you look more closely.

There are daffodils coming up all over the yard.

Even in the few patches of snow that are left in the shadier areas, there are green shoots poking through the ground.

The wild garlic is greening up.

Soon, no more snow. And then I’ll be happy.

~~Rhonda

December sprouts.

Lovely green on green daffodil sprouts…

During the shortest days of the year, a promise that spring is coming…

I love spring. Even during Christmas, which I also love, I am happy to see a promise that spring will follow. And isn’t that the promise of Christmas, too? God’s promise. New life through Christ. ~~Rhonda

Leaves blanket everything.

The big oak behind the house is beautiful.

This ginkgo tree was a Mother’s Day gift 10 or 12 years ago.

In the woods, the elm leaves are bright yellow with spots of chocolate brown.

The red and orange sassafras leaves have already fallen. Only a few yellow ones remain.

The grasses will stay pretty all winter.

Even though we are in the waning days of autumn, a few flowers bloom here and there, around the yard.

Even the rhododendrons have put out some blossoms. I’ve never seen this bush bloom in the fall before.

And a few irises are reblooming. The purple iris from the family farm are always some of the earliest irises to bloom in the spring and we usually get a stalk or two in the fall.

The miniature iris ‘Baby Blessed’ is a great rebloomer. With enough moisture, it will rebloom several times during the season.

Some of the most beautiful days of the year occur in autumn. But autumn will wane quickly. Get out there and enjoy it while you can.

~~Rhonda

There are large swathes of black eyed Susans in the yard. And they are still producing lots of bloom and color.

There are still quite a few daylilies showing off their final blossoms.

‘Carolicolassal’

‘Lavender Luxury’

This unknown daylily is in full bloom right now. It is taller than I am and is the latest bloomer in our collection of daylilies.

And one of my favorites…we gave this one the garden name of “Paprika” because we don’t know its real name.

The garlic chives are beginning to bloom. A large bunch of these is really pretty, with the stems all bending in the same direction and the buds opening a few at a time until there’s a sea of white.

The ‘Royal Standard’ hostas are blooming. A beautiful bright white, they have a wonderful sweet fragrance. This particular plant lost its sheltering redbud tree last year. We need to move it to a better location. Somewhere it won’t get so much sunburn.

I don’t remember which hosta these purple flowers were on.

The crepe myrtle is a great shrub for color this time of year.

The garden bench under the mulberry tree is a bit overwhelmed by hostas and elderberries.

Aren’t the elderberries pretty?

We had a little sprinkle of rain this afternoon, but it didn’t amount to more than a few drops on the redbud leaves.

We can see this hibiscus from the kitchen windows. The flower is about 12″ across and a beautiful rosy pink color. It’s called ‘Sante Fe.’

We don’t have many annuals or container plants, but I do love this large pot of coleus that sits by the back door.

I hope you enjoyed the garden walk. If you would like to see other gardens with beautiful blooms, click on Bloomin’ Tuesday.

~~Rhonda

There are surprise lilies all over the yard.

The grass ‘Morning Light’ is one of my favorites. It always looks great.

And the zebra grass is another favorite.

The crepe myrtles are beginning to bloom.

This miniature crepe myrtle gets only about 12-15″ tall. I don’t remember the name. The blossoms are just beginning to open. Soon it will be covered.

Here’s a good place for viewing the front yard.

Yup, still pretty.

Hop over to Tootsie’s and click the links to see what is blooming in other gardens.

~~Rhonda

In the fenced garden, the bare spots where DH took out all the over zealous lemon balm need to be filled in with something new. We’ll have to ponder that.

This bee seemed deliriously happy in the hollyhock.

The surprise lilies are popping up all over the yard. Look at all those little ones coming on. There were surprise lilies in the yard when we bought the house, but these, in the fenced garden, are from my grandmother’s yard.

The garden phlox is blooming like crazy. And it makes the garden smell so good.

The tallest daylily in our garden opened for the first time today. We don’t know the name of it. It’s a very late bloomer and extremely tall.

Ack! What’s this?? Red sassafras leaves… You know what this means?? Before we know it, autumn will be here. ::sigh::

And the little wild asters are starting to bloom, too. Another sign of fall.

But I’m going to play Scarlett for now and think about that tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day…

While I’m not thinking about fall, why don’t you join me as I peruse Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer’s blog. Let’s see what everyone else was up to today.

~~Rhonda