The happiness of life is made up of minute fractions – the little, soon-forgotten charities of a kiss or smile, a kind look, a heart-felt compliment, and the countless infinitesimals of pleasurable and genial feeling ~ Samuel Taylor
Spring and especially spring in May is such wonderful time in my garden. Flowers begin to emerge more and more and fill in the beds. The vegetable garden is planted, and those earlier greens and peas are finally harvested. I find myself lost in the garden contemplating each new bloom for what seems like hours. And I love to wander checking out the way the plants look from all directions and in many different lights.
With the hectic pace of life and the seconds, minutes and hours that seem to rush by, I am trying to slow my life a bit and savor happy moments. And with impending retirement, I hope to find more of these moments. But for now I am going with those moments/events I know will bring me happiness immediately like taking a five minute stroll to the pond with a cup of tea (I am off coffee right now) or catching the sun’s rays lighting up the meadow. New and familiar smells waft on the breeze, and I catch bits of the scents. And the sounds of the wake up calls by both bird and frog slow my breathing.
Finding those five minutes may be difficult, but they are so important. Right now my life is made up of things to do; work, garden chores and writing. My free time seems to be dwindling so I am making time for happiness…..rediscovering what makes me indescribably happy and reconnecting with these experiences.
I am leaving the to-do lists behind and making sure I set time aside daily for just being happy. I still have some goals and ideas for things I want to do, and I will never stop my personal evolution and journey, but I no longer am seeking happiness…instead I am choosing to be happy by experiencing the things that bring me pleasure.
And what is bringing me happiness are the incredible blooms for Garden Bloggers’s Bloom Day (GBBD). I am linking in with Carol@May Dreams Gardens to show just a bit of what is blooming right now.
A-May-Zing Blooms Right Now In My Garden
Lots blooming in the native woodland patches (starting top left moving clockwise)….Virginia bluebells, twinleaf, Shooting Stars, many trilliums, and lots of violets especially lower left, ‘Freckles’. Mayapples, foam flower and jack-in-the-pulpit.
This is one of the epimediums blooming…last year they were frozen.
First dwarf bearded iris to bloom.
Lamium blooming profusely…this is the first time I have seen so many blooms.
One of the few tulips blooming. This tulip was lit up by the setting sun.
Bergenias looking good this year.
Brunnera grew quickly from nubs left after winter. I don’t know what I love more the foliage or the flowers.
The English primroses are putting on a spectacular show….amazing blooms.
Starflowers or Ipheion uniflorum are blooming their hearts out…last year there were few blooms with the freezes and drought.
I can’t get enough muscari. This is a later blooming very deep almost eggplant colored variety, Muscari paradoxum. I planted lots of these and they are fantastic.
Many lungwort lighting up the shady areas of the garden. Again I love the foliage as much as the flowers.
Phlox subulata or Moss Phlox (in many colors) are starting to break into flower.
Lilacs about to break into flower. I love these buds.
Flowers on my new Serviceberry.
I had to show you more Summer Snowflake or Leucojum aestivum. I adore this flower and added it all over the garden.
Foliage Showcase
I am showcasing some foliage as well, and linking in with Pam@Digging for her Foliage Follow Up on the 16th, and Christina@Creating my own garden of the Hesperides for her Garden Bloggers Foliage Day on the 22nd.
Eastern Prickly Pear cactus perking up after its winter slumber. Hard to imagine it started as one lowly pad. I hope to see flowers this year.
I love watching twinleaf or Jeffersonia bloom in my native garden. The leaves emerge and fill out more fully.
Oriental poppy foliage is showy and so easy to spot.
Variegated daylily, ‘Golden Zebra’ is just a wonderful plant because of its great foliage.
Maple leaves finally unfurling in the first rays of the day. Couldn’t forget the trees.
Hope your Bloom Day is wonderful!
And don’t forget that Seasonal celebrations meme is coming up June 1st. More details are found below. So get those post ideas ready for this next great season!
“Someone once asked me what I regarded as the three most important requirements for happiness. My answer was: “A feeling that you have been honest with yourself and those around you; a feeling that you have done the best you could both in your personal life and in your work; and the ability to love others.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt
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Come Join Us:
Seasonal Celebrations is a time for marking the change of seasons and what is happening in your part of the world during this time. I hope you will join in by creating a post telling us how you celebrate this time of year whether summer or winter or something else. Share your traditions, holidays, gardens and celebrations in pictures, poetry or words starting June 1st.
And it seems so appropriate to collaborate with Beth and her Lessons Learned meme. What lessons have you learned this past season of spring here in the North and fall in the South. Then tell us about your wishes, desires and dreams for this new season.The rules are simple. Just create a post that talks about lessons learned 
and/or seasonal celebrations. If you are joining in for both memes please leave a comment on both our blog posts. Or if you are choosing to join only one meme, leave a comment on that blog post. Make sure to include a link with your comment.
Beth and I will do a summary post of our respective memes on the equinox (the 20th of March). And we will keep those posts linked on a page on our blog. Your post should be linked in the weekend before the equinox to give us enough time to include your post in our summary. And if you link in a bit late, never fear we will include it on the special blog page (which I still have to create). The badges here can be used in your post. So won’t you join in the celebration!!
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Next up on the blog: Next Monday will be another Garden Book Review. I will also have a Wildflower Tale and another Simply The Best-Herbs post later in the month.
I am linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.
I hope you will join me for my posts once a month at Beautiful Wildlife Garden. See my most current post now. Next one is up on May 28th.
As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.
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