Spring drew on…and a greenness grew over those brown beds, which, freshening daily, suggested the thought that Hope traversed them at night, and left each morning brighter traces of her steps. ~Jane Eyre
On this first day of May, I look out the window and see green – green! – on the tree branches. Flowers have been blooming since February – snowdrops, crocus, daffodils, tulips – and their color is so welcome. Yet when the woods light up in delicate green, it feels as if spring is complete.
The ostrich ferns have completely unfurled, refracting light through their intricate fronds 
while the sunlight pouring through white daffodil ‘Bella Coola’ turns its petals translucent. 
The weather has had several wild swings this spring, hot summer temperatures for days in early spring followed by deep drops into bitter cold, the process repeated again and again. Yet the plants have survived somehow, resilient and beautiful.
Parts of the garden have come fully into bloom – the grape and lemonade bed is always its showiest this time of year.
After years of tolerating our makeshift garden gate built of fence parts, I found a beautifully crafted gate to create a dramatic entrance into the garden.
Green isn’t the only foliage color in the garden now – the red Japanese maples have fully unfurled their leaves
as has the purple smokebush entwined with Clematis ‘Sweet Sugar Blues’. 
Our wild violets (Viola sororia) have been blooming for weeks
and are now joined by the soft blue and white blossoms of hardy geraniums.
My latest garden video traces the gradual emergence of spring and the light that shines through the garden at this bewitching time of year.
Wherever you are in the world, and in whatever season you find yourself, may you see the light shining through the beautiful things around us.
but in another, it is a way of tracing the exploration of an idea over a long period of time. 
I immediately gravitated to playing with color – it is something that looks good on the screen and people in the northern hemisphere are desperately hungry for color during our long gray and white winters. Creating short garden videos has become a new form of expression for me – I continue to learn and refine my skills while working to add new techniques. My instincts proved correct – my collaboration video has gone a bit viral and gives me encouragement to pursue this avenue of expression. Enjoy a feast of color for the eyes, spring is not far off! 
as it does in flower. 
I’ve had my hands in the dirt (well, dirty gloves) all summer, leaving little time to write or share until now. 
In July, my garden was on a garden tour to benefit a local library and I taught a class in it for 
amid a new set of glass globes in the blue garden. 
composerinthegarden 