Buds on our cherry trees and flowers on our satsuma trees. Woohoo. Summer can’t be far away.

My tulips and daffodils are coming up. I will have to cover them this weekend due to cold temps predicted.

It is almost summer here in Arizona.

The butterflies are visiting my Butterfly Weed plants that I protected all winter. Soon we will see caterpillars and the plants will be their food. That darn little yellow and black garter snake is back again. Last year he had 3 females with him. I was hoping that he had forgotten where we lived. I will aggravate him and his harem until maybe they move on to another home. The gingers are growing a little too well and the weeds have taken over every flower bed. That will teach me to make sure I mulch everything good before winter is over! And, all the red wing black birds (down here we call them rice birds) that have been eating at my sunflower seeds at the feeders all winter are gone. Now I know that they are moving up north for the summer. I learn something new every day.

Well, I learned something too! Red Wing Blackbirds winter in the Southern US! Why do you call them "rice birds"?

Ospreys are our first harbinger of Spring. I'm fond of RW Blackbirds and used to see lots of them on the farm. Now that I live in a aboretum I see hardly any. Too many trees for RW Blackbirds?

Because they haven't flown south for the winter the last few years, I saw a gaggle of geese, but no indication of spring. Nature is perplexed as well.

Our satsuma trees are covered with flowers. I’m hoping for a lot of satsumas this fall. We give them to family, friends, and the food bank. We used to have a Meyer lemon tree but the severe freeze last year killed it.