Spring in progress

I always get excited when I see our peonies start to sprout from the ground, where they've been hibernating all winter totally incognito under the mulch. (Yes, we took all three of our prized peonies with us when we moved to the new house :). The once deep burgundy shoots are now in the midst of transforming into giant green stems that will soon boast lush, delicious-smelling blooms.

We also have a soft spot for pear trees (this is a Capital Pear and is ornamental, so no actual fruit). It too is on the verge of sprouting cheerful white blossoms which come before the tree starts producing its leaves.

And of course, we can't wait to see our masses of hydrangeas in full show again - they bloom with reckless abandon which is quite pleasing. It's a relatively new variation of the popular Annabelle hydrangea, called Incrediball. The name speaks to the sturdy stems (no droopy blooms, hooray!) and giant, bountiful mopheads it produces. This paired with the fact that the mopheads bloom green to white had us at hello. The perfect Modern Cottage hydrangea!

We were looking forward to capturing our floral friends on a lovely, sunny, spring day, but it's been soggy and overcast for days now - boo. But we are hopeful the sun will be out again soon, and maybe then we'll do a progress report :)