Porch Pansies

 There is nothing at all ordinary about ordinary life.
        ~Elizabeth Berg in Make Someone Happy

I planted the porch pansies today. Oh, I looked at more exotic plants at the garden center, but in the end I stayed with my tried-and-true and much beloved pansies. 

When they are first transplanted, they lie down for a day or two, and then they perk right up and get on with business. I understand, because when we moved to the desert from New Hampshire it took me a while to feel at home.

They will bloom on the porch all during this, my 80th winter. They will show their colors right where I can see them from my knitting and reading chair. Even when the mountains in the distance are dusted with snow, they will bloom. 

I love their colors and their little faces. 

In the Garden This Morning

Just a couple of weeks ago, this was the garden scene from the front porch: I was happy for the flowers, but things were pretty sparse and the trees were still bare. 

With the arrival of Spring, our annual jungle-look flower garden starts taking shape out front. I wish you could have heard the morning birdsong as I took these photos. 

I love the early morning light. Even the spent pansy blossoms are glorious.

We are just at the end of pansy season; I planted these last November
and they have lasted all winter. The heat of April is getting to them now.

It's hard to get a shot of these brilliant cactus blooms: They are so much better in real life!

First blossoms on the Bertie Memorial Tree; a gift from Helen, this desert
bird of paradise was planted as a memorial to our dear Bertie Pierre

We are at the very beginning of hollyhock season; hundreds of buds
are waiting to open 

For My Northern Friends

Down in the Alameda neighborhood in town, the willows are leafing out and the daffodils and fruit trees are in bloom. A little north of town where we live, our neighbor's lilac is blooming and my pansies are putting on a good show. I planted them last fall and they have bravely bloomed all winter long. Soon they will give up as the days grow hotter. 

I am posting these photos for my friends in the North--no, not to make them envious, but to reassure them that Spring is making its annual march toward them up from the South. In a couple of weeks, they'll be seeing an end to all the snow (we hope) and the new beginnings of springtime.