After my time away from home, tending my daughter with her broken ankle and her two sons, I have come back home to find the first real signs of spring. The herb bed next to the piazza in front of the house faces south and is very protected. It doesn’t look like much from a distance, but if you get up close . . . Here is autumn crocus sending up leaves as early as spring crocus, but the foliage will die during the summer and the blossoms will appear in the fall. Some call them Naked Ladies because the flower grows directly out of the ground.

Of course the herb bed has herbs: chives,

garlic chives,

lemon balm,

and bee balm of the bright red variety. This is a strong spreader and I always have plenty to share.

I raced to the vegetable garden, and I can see I will have to wait a little while more before planting. This is a 15 x 15 foot plot that I started when my hip was giving me so much trouble. After the hip was replaced we added a new raspberry patch next to it. Last year we added on an extension, but you can’t see it from this angle. Right now I am full of plans and impatient, but I can almost smell planting season.