A spring afternoon

With water and warmth, leaves are expanding rapidly and flowers are opening.

All of the potato sprouts are up, the coral honeysuckle at the kitchen door is loaded with flowers (still waiting for hummingbirds), and honeybees, bumblebees, and carpenter bees are avidly visiting the redbuds in full bloom.

The columbines (Aquilegia canadense) that have self-seeded around the house are just coming into flower.

I saw a monarch this afternoon -- I was surprised to see one. They're coming north, but I didn't see any last spring, even though we're on the eastern 'flyway'.