SPRING HAS SPRUNG

Spring has sprung, the flowers has ris, I wonder where the birdies is? That is an old line used frequently by Seniors like me, but it does say it all. My flowers are indeed rising, and our feeders are full of birds and the squirrels have come to fill up on peanuts. I just love having the yard full of animals,etc. and they are so cheery. The gardens are early this year and I hope a late frost doesn't get the new buds. The lilacs are out, the lilies are up and about ready to bloom, all the perennials survived the winter and are flowering out. The Funkia grows an inch per day and that is no joke. However, no one but my brother and I seem to know what Funkia is. Well it is similar (but not exact) to Hosta. I have 5 varieties of Hosta among my Funkia, but it is easy to tell the difference. The Funkia has curly leaves and is much prettier than most Hosta plants. It came from a very old batch that grew on the stonewall of my brother's greenhouse land. When he moved South to live, he gave me a large clump of the bulbs and I planted them. They are now totally covering the garden in front of the house and I have spread them to the side and back yards as well as giving away a lot. In the old days this kind of plant was seen around old farms and houses and you didn't buy it. It had to be given to you, as was my starter bunch. So maybe that is why it is different and the name suggests "earthy smell" as described in my books.It gets the usual blue flowers in mid-summer but they are slightly different than all the other varieties.
Our feeders are emptied every single day with our Cardinals, Goldfinches, Red-headed sparrows, Red-headed woodpeckers,etc.etc. Most of our regulars spend the winter with us and don't migrate. We feed them all year long. They are so used to us they sit on top of the feeder pole while Fred fills and changes the feeder tubes. Then they feed like he hadn't even been there. If anyone has garden stories, I would like to hear them. Much of what I have planted all around the house are varieties that are very old or unknown now. Interesting.