Garden Season Opens in Michigan!

We just had our first nearly perfect weekend here in Michigan. Woo hoo!

My flower beds have been beckoning me and today I was able to answer their call.
I weeded, turned the soil, planted seeds and mulched. I have quite a few perennials and it is always with a glad heart that I see them poking their new leaves through the soil.
Some are like old friends, I would know that leaf shape anywhere!
There is something about having my hands in the dirt that I just love. I must have been a farmer in another life. The smell of freshly turned earth, there is nothing like it.

Let's talk about seeds for a moment. Have you ever held the tiny, miniscule seeds in your hand and really wondered how something so small could possess the possibility of life and flowers?
It always amazes me. May I never stop being amazed at the wonder and possibilites of life.

My dear sister in Texas sent me an antique rosebush for my birthday. It arrived in March, way too early to plant here in Michigan. I have been clucking over it like a mother hen, worried that something might happen to it before I could get it in the ground. She suggested that I plant it several weeks ago. Poor dear, she has been in Texas for far too long and has forgotten that the rule here in the far North is to plant nothing until you are close to Mother's Day.
It is a climber and I have visions of a bountiful rosebush growing up the column on my front porch. I ended up extending my flower bed several feet to accomodate my beautiful bush.
It has 6, yes I counted, rosebuds that I am just hoping will not fall off due to transplant shock.
But you simply do the best you can and apply all of your gardening knowledge and hope for the best.
My arms and chest are a bit pink and my muscles are a bit sore but I feel very centered and satisfied and glad to be alive. Those are just a few things that I found in the garden today and are perhaps the very things that make it a worthwhile cause. It feeds the soul.