Blue Scilla and Yellow Tulips

After a very long winter here in North Dakota we're finally seeing some gardening glory, the first blooms of Spring.  Due to an unusually late start to Spring in all the Upper Mid-West, but especially here Eastern North Dakota, everything seems to be at least a few weeks delayed.

The blue scilla are the first bulbs to pop every year.  They're a small delicate blue flower, and the plant itself is only 2-3 inches high.  They're supposed to naturalize here in Zone 4 and they're started to do so, spreading out in larger clumps in a few places. 

Alycia really enjoys them and I like them as well.  We've planted some around the apple trees and some in the lawn around the box elder we had removed last year.  They're such a striking blue and their arrival sends a positive message that Winter is finally over and Spring is here.    

The first of the tulips (the name escapes me) have started to bloom as well.  We're looking forward to the next few weeks of tulips.

Late arriving Spring has left us with an unusually compressed and time crunched Spring.  Winter clean up, Spring garden preparations, seed starting, and planting things in the yard has not only happened in a small span of time, but has also coincided with the end of the school semester.  As such we're left feeling extra harried and rushed this year. This is probably the same feeling that all gardeners have in Spring but it seems more pronounced this year.

This post represents our first (of hopefully many) participation of the year in Tootsie Time: Fertilizer Friday/Flaunt Your Flowers posting.  Tootsie Time is a fantastic garden blogger who has this "contest" every Friday, allowing people to flaunt what's blooming in their yard right now.  I highly recommend checking it out and participating!