Spring flowers, garden sproutings, and a little surprise

I think I love spring more with each passing year.  It is so fresh, full of promise, and just so exciting with everything budding and blossoming.  The West Coast offers an early start to the season, so this week I found myself in the garden planting my unchitted Warba potatoes – it’s my first time growing potatoes, unchitted or otherwise which is an occurrence worthy of its own post 🙂 –  which led to a meander about the yard to enjoy some of the spring flowers making their appearances.

Forget-me-nots enjoying a bit of morning sunshine  

   Fritilleria ~ once they open up they look like a delicate tulip in an upside-down sort of way

Back in the garden, a few mustard greens and lettuce seeds have broken through the soil with their miniature leaves.  I’m very excited about that! The mustard greens are of the ‘Osaka Purple’ variety whose leaves really do taste like mustard – dijon, to be precise – yum! A clump of fennel seedlings are well on their way, and some of the blueberry bushes are starting to flower.

‘Drunken Woman’ lettuce from Salt Spring Seeds

Sprouted fennel seeds from flowers that grew alongside the Galloping Goose Trail

…visions of blueberries are dancing in my head…

And now for the little surprise….much to my happiness, I discovered lupin seedlings growing at the back of my garden.  A surprise because last year the lupins were completely taken out by slugs when they were just starting out.  My mom gave me these seeds from her own flowers and I’d saved them – not wanting to plant them because after she died a few years ago, I felt like I didn’t want to let go of something she had collected with her own hands and given to me.  I know she wanted me to enjoy the beauty of these flowers as she did, so finally last year the seeds were planted.  So yes, I was definitely angry at the slugs for munching down those new shoots to nothing! But oh, the promise of spring! I’m so delighted these little lupins have sprouted forth…a garden surprise that feels like a gift 🙂

Precious shoots protected from my feet by some pieces of slate

Enjoying spring,

Amanda