Signs of Spring

Today, the mercury rose to an absolutely gorgeous 52 F.  It was wonderful to come home from work and see that all the snow had melted off of the lakeside hill.  Although we still have a few inches of snow in the yard, the unseasonably warm weather prompted a quick garden tour.  Most of the snow in the gardens has melted, and I was able to pull away some of the dead sedum stalks to unveil the earliest emerging sedum buds.  I love the optimism of these plants - they usually emerge very early and are early harbingers of the gardening season to come.  It's nice to finally feel that spring may actually come to the great northwoods!