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This spring I bought several Iceland poppy plants. I tucked them in front of the various boxwoods that frame my front door. I have watched with fascination the fuzzy elongated green buds open little by little and finally unfold into flowers with ruffled organza petals and golden crowns of stamens.

The fuzzy sepals that wrap around the bud to protect it before opening finally start to crack open to reveal delicate petal edges. Unlike most buds, the Iceland poppy does not unfurl or spread open, but rather it unfolds from a fist-like position with petal edges breaking out at the bottom of the sepal. To think that these gathered, gossamer thin petals emerge from this cramped position without any evidence of their captivity to appear for their grand finale of bloom is a miracle of design and engineering.

Last Friday I was out in the garden between the spring showers weeding and working my compost piles when I heard the familiar chit-chit-chit-chit-chit of a hummingbird. I immediately held still and began to follow the sounds with my eyes hopeful to see my first hummingbird of spring.  When my eyes feasted on the tiny bundle of movement, I discovered it was a female Rufous Hummingbird.

She hovered above a laurel bush and then promptly landed on a large horizontal leaf for a spirited and joyful splashing in the raindrops. She then moved to another leaf and repeated the ritual. What a perfect joy to watch that feisty little bird bathing in the precious raindrops captured in the laurel leaves.

The Rufous Hummingbirds return to the Northwest in March when the wild current bushes are blooming and spend the spring, summer and fall feasting on the nectar of the lush flowers so abundant here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

I am always anxious to plant these two terra cotta wall planters that I have hung under one of the front south windows. This year I chose orange pansies and an orange-red ranunculus. I know this might seem overly simple, but it is always so effective to simply choose a color and then plant different flowers in that color or color range. This creates a simple and stunning show of a unified flower combination. I much prefer this to a little of this and a little of that.

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One of my favorite things to do in late winter is to enjoy spring blossoms inside. The white Japanese quince I have photographed in my dining room is from my backyard. It will bloom outside naturally in late March in my climate, but I force the blooms inside for an early and encouraging display of flowers while the winter still presides outside.

I cut long, lovely branches anytime in January or February and bring them in the warmth of my house. After I crush the cut stems with a hammer, I put them in a deep container of water and check every couple days to add more water. In two to four weeks I have a spring time of stunning white blossoms to decorate my house.

While I am waiting for the buds to blossom, the elegant branches are full of expanding buds, maturing into perfect little spheres of tender white. I believe I like these pregnant buds equally as well as the fully realized blossoms. This indoor preview of spring feeds my soul with hope and beauty for the future.

Trees and shrubs to choose for forcing:

• Japanese quinces of all colors
• Forsythia
• Ornamental flowering trees
• Fruit trees

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A trip to Baskett Slough National Wildlife Preserve proved to be a fruitful afternoon of birding. This preserve is a wetland teeming with ducks, geese, swans and birds of all kinds. We found a Northern Harrier, an American Kestrel, Western Grebes, Northern Shovelers and many more. Among the many more were thousands of Canada Geese, which are so common and are always found in great numbers in the wetlands and the fields that surround the preserve. I was not paying any attention to them as I was especially enjoying the florescent deep green of the Shovelers head with their black beaks and wishing it was closer to the mating season of the Western Grebe so I could experience their exotic dance skimming on the surface of the water in dancing pairs.

Then all of a sudden thousands of Canada Geese took flight, lifting up and flying away from the area I was closely observing. The sky was full and the air was interrupted with thousands of wings beating and incessant honking. They had not flown very far when they all made an abrupt U turn and began to come back toward us in a perfect V formation. I photographed this formation and several subsequent views as they came closer and closer. When they were almost overhead they were no longer dark silhouettes against the blue sky but caught the sunlight to expose their white and black and grey markings. What a feast for the eyes! As I looked up the sky was completely patterned with a mass of these swift, graceful and fleeting forms. I was completely pleased to have caught this sky show on my iphone and I wanted to share it with you.