When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, April hath put a spirit of youth in everything, – Sonnet 98: From you have I been absent in the spring by William Shakespeare.

That is what the spirit of spring brings to each one of us. In Spring, the earth laughs in flowers.  It brings in cheer and happiness.  It is a reminder to us about the warmer days ahead.  If we did not have the freezing winter, the spring will never be so pleasant. 

We enjoy everyday of Spring more because it is the weather of birds chirping; bees flying from flower to flower collecting nectar; butterflies fluttering showing off their colourful wings.

The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing as the flowers never worry about how they are going to bloom. They bloom and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.

To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow and at the end of the day in the Spring, I smell like dirt. The very first flowers that appear in our garden at the onset of Spring are on the Weeping Pussy Willow. The Salix Caprea ‘Pendula’ is commonly known as the Goat Willow or Weeping Pussy Willow, which belongs to the Caprea genus of flowering trees.

The soft coating of hairs acts as insulation to protect these early bloomers from cold temperatures. Most other willows make similar flowers, and since they’re among the very first to bloom, they’re especially delightful—they signal the onset of spring. The tree derives its name from these soft silver tufts that resemble tiny cats’ paws, feeling so much like fur.

Among the fruit trees in our garden, the first to bloom are the apricots.

The pale pink and fragrant flowers are 5-petaled and appear singularly or in pairs.  Cultivation of apricot trees in China dates back 3000 years. From there apricot trees spread west throughout central Asia into Armenia. The Romans introduced apricots to Europe in 70-60 BC through Greece and Italy. Apricot trees probably moved to the US through English settlers on the East Coast,