Five Picture Books to Celebrate Patterns in Nature

Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tails
Patterns & Shapes-- Naturally
by Betsy Franco
illustrations by Steve Jenkins


Author of Curious Collection of Cats and Dazzling Display of Dogs, Betsy Franco, has written over two dozen books for children, among other things. Plus, the kids and I are huge fans of Steve Jenkins. So, when we found this book in the library by two wonderfully creative and talented people, we had to bring it home to savor at our leisure.

In the day and the night,
on land and in flight,
tucked in hollows of trees,
in the tide pools and seas,
you'll find patterns and shapes--
from the snakes to the bees!

Thus starts this book which has Jenkins' trademark cut paper collage complementing the lyrical text.

We learn about Moth's kaleidoscopic shapes, spider's delicate tapestries, peacock's patterned train, and even the beautiful spirals on topshell snails. The text is elegant in its simplicity, highlighting the very aspect that is distinct and discernible in each creature.

Study a beehive and you will see
the mathematical genius of the bee.
The hexagons you'll find inside
fit side by side by side.
This math is passed mysteriously
from worker bee to worker bee!

Each page is a work of art, inspiring and stunning. Kids particularly liked the pufferfish page! The pages with ants marching diligently and the sea stars in a tidepool cannot be read in a rush.



Swirl by Swirl
Spirals in Nature
by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Beth Krommes


From coiled up snake that is ready to spring, to chambered nautilus that grows bigger and bigger; from rolled up lady fern leaves ready to unfurl, to spiny sea horse's coiled tail that grabs on tight to seaweed so as not to drift away; and all the way to spiral galaxy, we are treated to the many aspects of spirals we see in nature.

A spiral is a snuggling shape.
It fits neatly in small places.
Coiled tight, warm and safe, it awaits...
For a chance to expand.

Full page scratchboard illustrations with just a hint of color from watercolor washes are gorgeous. Each example shows the many aspects of spiral shape that makes it unique and useful. With minimal text, the book conveys the idea gracefully - that no matter how we look at it, be it rolled up and full of potential or fully expanded infinite in the universe, spirals can be powerful and elegant.


Growing Patterns
Fibonacci Numbers in Nature
and
Mysterious Patterns
Finding Fractals in Nature
By Sarah C. Campbell

With photographic illustrations, Growing Patterns introduces Fibonacci numbers in nature - starting with the number of petals in Lyle-leaved Sage and Calla Lily to Crown of Thorns to Trillium to Vinca to Cosmos.

The back of the book has  More About Fibonacci Numbers where we learn about Fibonacci, the man, as well as the fact that this series of numbers was known to ancient Indian scholars even before Fibonacci spread the word about it. Glossary explains the golden ratio and the golden rectangle.

From Pinecones and Pineapple to Sunflower Centers and Nautilus we see the beauty of Fibonacci numbers. But the book also ends with the note that not all numbers in nature are Fibonacci numbers, and encourages us to look for spirals, Fibonacci numbers, and other patterns.

We know spheres (oranges, tomatoes) and cones (icicles and traffic cones), even cylinders (pencils and cucumbers). But what do we call the shape of broccoli or branch of fern leaves? We didn't have a name for them until 1975, when Benoit Mandelbrot noticed patterns in these natural shapes.

Mysterious Patterns is all about fractals. Using a drawing of a tree - starting with the bare trunk, add a 'V' branch, then add a 'V' branch to each arm of the first 'V' branch, and so on till we get the shape of a typical tree, or broccoli - we learn about identifying the smallest unit/pattern which when repeated, gives the complex shape for which we don't have a single precise name, but call them fractals.

Leaves' veins and flower heads of Queen Anne's Lace are simple examples of this repetitive pattern that makes up some of the natural shapes in nature. The pattern of small rivers and streams that feed into one larger river, the lightning bolt, human veins,even human lungs are fractals.

The book ends by showing what patterns are not fractals - even though they are repetitive - like skin marking on swallowtail caterpillar or the outside of the pineapple.

Make Your Own Fractal section at the back of the book was a big hit with both the nine and seven year old. The Afterword suggests that Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak would have been made of fractals!


Echoes for the Eye
Poems to Celebrate Patterns in Nature
by Barbara Juster Esbensen
illustrated by Helen K. Davie

Organized in five sections titled Spirals, Branches, Polygons, Meanders, and Circles, the book presents examples of natural geometry and repetition of shapes in nature in the most unexpected places.

Tornado and spirals? From cochlea to bighorn sheep's horns, we see some examples of spirals in nature. Snowflakes and turtle shells show us polygons in nature. Meanders talks about the winding curving esses in nature like the slithering snake and sliding glaciers.

Like a frozen white river
locked in time
the glacier
slides
slow
ponderous
inch by heavy
inch
powerful
grinding--
a heavy unfolding
ribbon of snow and ice.

Some knowledge of basic shapes and geometry is required to appreciate this book. The shapes are not explained, but the illustrations complement the poems to help the young readers get the idea.

[image source: multcolib.org]

Plant a Pocket of Prairie

Plant a Pocket of Prairie

by Phyllis Root
illustrated by Betsy Bowen


I was chuckling heartily along with my daughter when I read the first book I came across written by Phyllis Root, "Looking for a Moose", when my daughter was just about two-ish.

And now, Plant a Pocket of Prairie gave me another way to connect with my now nine year old daughter and inspire her to preserve what's left of our natural environment.

What is a prairie? Most of us know it as the open grasslands of the Mississippi river valley where flora and fauna of all sorts thrive and form a tight eco-system that has been sustaining itself for years. Not many of us may know that it has been dwindling steadily over the past few years.

Once prairie stretched thousands of miles... starts the book, describing the lush meadows that was home to prairie chickens and five-lined skinks among other animals and plants; and then, moving on to state that it is Almost gone now to farm and town and city, even before we knew all the things a prairie could do.

As I read the first two or three pages of the book to my kids, I noticed their squirms and wriggles of initial resistance for the subject matter. By the fourth page, they sat up and exclaimed, "I get it! We are adding on more plants and more animals are coming too!"

The book has a gentle message about bringing the prairie to life even in urban and suburban areas via careful planting and tending. Start planting "in your backyard / or boulevard / or boxes on a balcony" the book suggests in a practical way, because even small pockets of native plants can replicate the wider, larger habitat.

Plant foxglove beardtongue
A ruby-throated hummingbird
 might hover and sip and thrum.

While exotic names like foxglove beardtongue, Joe Pye weed,  and hairy mountain mint certainly kept us smiling, this is not a gardening book per se. It is rather a fanciful flight into what might be if we took a small step towards restoring the environment for the creatures whose territories we have usurped over time. From the small critters, all the way to bison will be back if they have a place to come back to.

The woodblock illustrations are beautiful, giving a back-to-nature sort of unspoiled feel as if we were in a meadow.

Back of the book has a map showing the extent of native prairie from 1847-1908, as well as the tiny blotches of its much-diminished spread as of 1987-2011. How to Plant a Pocket of Prairie section suggests various ways to explore and understand the prairie. Sometimes called "upside down forests" due to the deep roots of many prairie plants, there is more biomass underground than above ground in prairies. There is also a section devoted to the animals and plants of the prairie with brief notes about each.

While it is heartening to read the verses suggesting that planting purple coneflowers will bring Dakota skippers and swallowtails, it doesn't happen overnight. We have a few white butterflies gracing our garden (thankfully we don't have any cabbage family plants in the garden this year) and the kids know first-hand the joy it brings to them.

And, when the kids stop at our purple coneflowers in our small yard hoping to catch a glimpse of a butterfly or a bee, I am glad this book has in some small way inspired them to carry the message forward.

[Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book. But the opinions expressed here and the decision to share it here are my own.]

[image source: University of Minnesota Press]

Backyard Bird Watching

Thanksgiving break gave us plenty of time to just take it easy - no school, no schedule, nowhere to be except at home...  Warm and comfortable.

Which gave us plenty of time to observe the backyard birds visiting our feeders.

Flitting in, pecking and filling their beaks, flying out to the trees where they seem to be dwelling at the moment.

Chickadee, Junco, Red-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Song Sparrow, Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Starling... these have been our backyard feathered companions so far.

Sometimes they flock, sometimes they take turns... and somehow they seems to have an unwritten understanding - House Finches and Sparrows and Chickadees and Nuthatches don't occupy the feeder the same time that Flickers or Sapsuckers or Starlings do - being of different sizes, I guess...

With the feeder constantly swaying, and my point-and-shoot camera in its full zoom far away from the birds, the pictures are not sharp... however, it was music to hear Oggie shout, "House Finch, Mama! It's on our feeder, quick take a picture!" or "Look, Mama! Junco on the ground, eating the seeds you left on the floor!"

The Boy Who Drew Birds

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon
by Jacqueline Davies
illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Ornithologist, naturalist, painter, John James Audubon (Jean-Jacques Audubon) is known and loved the world over for his meticulous study of American birds, documenting not just their features and habitat but their migration with his pioneering technique of bird-banding.

This picture book biography shares the story of his life when he was sent to America from his native France at age 18 to get out of conscription in Napoleonic wars. His father, a wealthy enough man, set up a wonderful house in the woods, Mill Grove, with house-keeper to take care of it, to give John James a chance to follow his passion: birds.

It was true that John James could hunt, skate, and ride better than most boys. True also that he could dance the minuet and gavotte as if he had been born a king. He could fiddle, he could flirt, he could fence. But what he liked to do best, from sunup to sundown, was watch birds.

Mrs. Thomas, the housekeeper, found John James' attraction to birds rather odd: Birds! Always birds! From the moment he woke up in the morning to the moment he closed his eyes at night, he thought only of birds. It was strange for a boy his age.

Out of curiosity about where birds go in winter, and which birds stay and brave it locally, John James conducted his own study.

Are these the same pewees who built the nest here last year? Where did they spend winter? Will they return next spring?

One of the facts from the book that fascinated the 7 year old is that Audubon patiently and over time won the confidence of a family of Eastern Phoebe birds enough to be near them and even tie a silver thread (loosely, of course) to the leg of a baby to see if he can identify it when it comes back; for even if nobody at that time were sure that birds came back to the same nesting grounds, John James had a pretty good inkling that they did.

And he was right!

Imagine his joy when he spotted the silver thread on one of the birds building a nest in the same area the following year! John James Audubon is thus credited with the first known bird-ringing or bird-banding in the continent.

Rather than artists' depictions, Audubon set out to draw detailed pictures of the birds he observed. Life-size paintings of birds hunting, preening, flying, fighting were not common then, so his remarkable paintings appealed to both the scientist and the layperson.


A fact that fascinated the 7-yo and the 4-yo is that after drawing detailed and numerous pictures each year, Audubon tore up and burned the year's worth of pictures to start fresh again the next year. Later in his life, he did lose many more of his drawings to rats and other factors, but what survived of his works is still treasured today via his Birds of America book.

[image source: goodreads.com]

The Little Patch of Earth

I remember thinking how beautiful the radish flowers are with their lovely lilacs and stark whites as I watched them get taller and wilder till they finally went to seed.

Over the years, considering what it has offered in terms of intangible lessons and returns, I'd emphatically say it is well worth it. Home-Gardening, I mean.

Knowing how plants grow, where our food comes from, how to care for the earth, composting, recycling, plant diseases, interdependence of nature's creatures, soil nutrition, harvesting, bugs and their role in the garden and suchlike are, at some level, hands-on for the kids, allowing me to learn a lot in the process as well.

Many simple and surprising recipes have come out of the home-garden harvest.

One of the lasting lessons for the kids has been composting. Organic waste goes into the compost bin in the kitchen, which dutifully gets emptied into the Earth Machine in the backyard. Og at 3 now knows banana peel doesn't go in the trash, we put it for composting in our home.

If harvesting the weed-like oregano and mint and fennel and rosemary and lavender from the garden gives me pleasure, it makes me ecstatic to get the squashes and green beans and eggplants and chards and lettuce and onions and tomatoes and radishes and potatoes and peas from the home garden.

Ana likes to to help with the harvesting. Please get me 20 green beans and 8 mint leaves, Ana, I call from the kitchen and she chimes OK, Mama from the backyard, searching around for a basket. Og likes to pick what little raspberries and chards he can find and munch on them as he wanders around the backyard, looking around for worms and ladybugs.

We still need to buy vegetables from the markets - it is not like we are self-sufficient with a teeny patch of backyard garden. That isn't the goal at all.

With nothing other than passion to support my fantasy of a thriving backyard mini-farm, and no stamina or in-depth knowledge to sustain the vegetable gardening year-round, even if the weather permits, which it doesn't where I live, I make the most of the few months from April to September, knowing that a greenhouse is out of my limits for now. No cute duck ponds, native flora and fauna coexisting in our backyard. Yet.

It is possible that this passion might get put in the back-burner as kids grow older and my reserves of energy seem better utlilized elsewhere... but for now, I am glad to be invited to an impromptu picnic by Ana where she prepares her truly original delicacy: Garden-fresh Raspberry Stuffed with Red Currants.

My indoor plant dreams are somewhat throttled by the Chew-Anything-Green policy our kitties have adopted since kittenhood. Even if they have pots of their kitty grass all over the house they seem to take pleasure in chewing up the money plant and peace lily leaves and puking them out all over the house. Of course, what am I if I cannot outsmart a kitty with hanging pots?

Garden 2006 started with peas and strawberries and rhubarb in Spring, as usual. Then, it was mostly eggplants (many varieties), winter squashes, bell peppers, chilies, tomatoes, my favorites.

Garden 2007 was mostly the same as 2006, with a variety of lettuce and some onions and potatoes. And the grapevine finally establishing and bearing fruit.

Garden 2008 didn't see much of me at planting season, what with Oggie's arrival and all. Little girl Ana was a big help that year. D tried many varieties of tomatoes and peppers and sqaushes which are easy to grow, plus cauliflower. That was fun for us all to watch the cauliflower grow. Cleaning and using it was a bit tedious but c'est la vie with organic gardening. Oh, and Scallop Squash - my favorite summer squash - we had a bunch of it that year.

Garden 2009 is a slight bit of a blur for me as I was in India that whole summer. D said he planted corn and tomatoes and squashes as usual. That was the year we had a bounty of grapes, pears and plums - I remember coming back from India and enjoying the fruits.

Garden 2010 had the staples again - peas, onions, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, eggplant, chilies, spinach, lettuce, rainbow chards... as does Garden 2011.

This year looks like a couple of our squashes cross-pollinated or something - a weird butternut- squash shaped thin-skinned summer squash has sprung up which neither D nor I remember planting. It is still growing so we'll have to wait to see what it turns into.

The usual perennials like rhubarb, mint, fennel, rosemary and such come up despite my neglect, but, planting the annuals each year has been quite a learning experience for us all.

We let the radishes and onions go to seed and saved the seeds from last year for planting this year.

We let the fennel go to seed even though it is a perennial, and collected the wonderful fennel seeds. I toast them and save them for soothing the tummy and freshening the breath after meals.

Seed Saving and Organic Gardening. Romantic and possibly Affected as they sound, seems to be a way of life for many today.

When Ana declares, I am going to have a large farm and a house in it, with sheep and ducks and chicken, and adds, You and Papa can come and stay with me, Mama; Og too if he wants, it feels like if nothing else, all that sweat and weeding at least served to impress one young mind. Possibly two. Three, including me, who was a city girl growing up with potted indoor plants for the most part.

The Songs of Wild Birds

The Songs of Wild Birds
(Book and CD)
by Lang Elliott

Published by: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Ages: 0+ (CD), All ages

Not often do I come across non-fiction books on Creatures of Nature, not targeted for children, that manage to capture and impress both the 3 and the 6 year old. And, blow me away at the same time.

Well-known sound recordist, writer and photographer Lang Elliott has exercised his magic all over us, or rather, I should say his Song Birds have.

This book and CD combination is a treasure for bird lovers, especially lovers of song birds native to North America.

The Songs of Wild Birds book has full page photos of 50 native songs birds, with one page description of each of the birds' calls and habits. That in itself might not have held the attention of the 3 year old, but the accompanying Audio CD certainly did.

With his gentle voice and unassuming tone, Lang Elliott introduces us to the world of beautiful music in nature, made by the wild song birds.

When I was young, song birds used to conjure up images of nightingales, warblers, jays, singing melodies somewhere out in the wilderness, even if I had no idea what the birds looked like other than the illustrations I had chanced upon in rare picture books.

Thanks to Ana's teacher, who pointed us to this book, both Ana and Og have actively learnt about some of the native birds, why they sing their songs, what exactly is their song, and how to identify some of the birds and their calls.

Judging by the fact that from the first week of June to-date of listening to the hour-plus CD daily in part or whole - either during commute or at bedtime, or simply for an afternoon Quiet Time, along with the book in hand turning the page to match the bird that Elliott shares in the CD - I am convinced this book sure seems magical to my 6-year old.

Especially when it came right at the heels of our own backyard wild birds study, particularly the Northern Flicker.

And, when I hear, "That looks like a Common Loon, Mama" or, "I think I heard a Red-Tailed Hawk screech, Mama" from the 3 year old when we are out in the trail nearby, I smile quietly, thanking Lang Elliott for introducing my kids to something beautiful. Even if there are no Red-tailed Hawks nearby and it was probably the call of a jay.

What is your favorite bird call? has been a frequent question at home for the past few weeks. And the kids' answer changes week to week depending on the mood. "My favorite is the Black-throated Green Warbler, Mama" says Ana, while Oggie chimes in, "My favorite is Barred Owl, Mama, he says Who Cooks For You?".

And sure enough, Lang Elliott makes it easy to remember some of the distinct sounds of these wild birds by providing a verbal/textual equivalent.

What's mine, you ask? Well, my all-time forever favorite from this book of 50 bird calls is that of the American Bittern. No contest. The sound-recording in the CD is amazing (compared to the youtube link here, I mean) - the oong-ka-choonk is so unique that it is hard to mistake it for any other call. And, the fact that the American Bittern is fondly nicknamed "thunder pumper" makes it hard to not pick this as my favorite.

The trivia that Elliott peppers the CD with did not go unnoticed. I heard Ana, on more than one occasion, state excitedly to whoever happens to pay attention at that time, that while her favorite is the Bald Eagle, its call is not. And proceed to elaborate:

"It makes a funny chirping sound. The movie people got it wrong. They play a screeching scary bird call and show the bald eagle up in the sky. It is actually the red-tailed hawk that makes that screeching sound. Red-tailed Hawks often fly near where Bald Eagles fly".

Of course, not that this in itself is not plenty, but, what made this book extra special to me is that it inspired Ana to draw these birds. She is not exactly a gifted drawing artist, although I believe drawing comes with training; but, she loves to draw, color, paint, make art, and that's what matters to me. Not the end product. At least, not at this time.

So, when she picks up the book, turns to a favorite page, and tries to draw the bird on the white board with a limited palette of markers, I wait till she is done and start clicking them before she erases that one and moves on to another one she'd like to try her hand at.

So what if her Seeder Waxwing doesn't quite look the original or her goldfinch is orange and black, right?

Lang Elliott has brought out many books along similar vein. Visit Lang Elliott's Books site for details. Along with his friends he has established a non-profit called The Music of Nature, which is, "dedicated to celebrating nature through the presentation of powerful media, especially high definition videos, sound recordings, photographs, and associated text."

Spring Break 2010

Thanks to Ana's school closure for Spring Break, we were forced to interrupt our blasé routine - to stop and take a deep breath before moving on. And, much like last year, we went up northwards to visit Nana in Beautiful British Columbia.

Ana was very excited: she remembered the last trip being very much fun. And, when I gave her a small suitcase to pack what she needs for the trip, she got right to it. I told her just how long we were planning to stay, and sure enough, she packed just the right amount - mix and match, layers of clothes - and of course, her Enid Paapaa and Polly Pocket, plus her tent and sleeping bag, just in case we get to camp out.

The drive up and down was quite beautiful but taxing nonetheless, especially for the kids. Oggie got car sick promptly - am still trying to get the stench out of his car seat...

Nana is raising a few alpacas, donkeys, and chickens in the Slocan Valley. We got to meet them, feed them, and befriend them right away. They are very sweet. Kylie and Chica are the alpacas, Missy and Paco are the donkeys, Libby and Gabby are the hens that Nana hatched and raised from babyhood.

Of course, she also hatched and raised a rooster - we call him Kung Fu Rooster - he is quite aggressive and protective of his hens... sneaks up from behind and launches flying kicks and pecks! He got Ana once, and kept me at bay quite easily...

Watching us approach with handfuls of Carrots and Apple Slices, sweet little Missy would be the first in line... shy and pregnant Chica (light brown patch on back) would come around after she sees Kylie taking the snack...

I can see how Zen-like it can be to just have these sweet animals around. But, if you ask Nana, she will also tell you how tough it is to wake up at freezing dawn to feed the animals, and to clean out their poop, and to groom and keep them healthy :)




We went on a couple of short hikes/walks - with Oggie tagging along, it couldn't be terribly strenuous. There were deer everywhere! We saw some deer bones along one of the paths we walked... which made Ana wonder who ate up the rest of the deer and left the bones...

And we enjoyed eating at Cedar Creek Cafe - which Nana used to run until she decided to pursue other interests. Charming decor with a stove providing the much-needed warmth, friendly and courteous waitress, plus a simple yet healthy and wholesome menu with lots of vegetarian choices makes Cedar Creek Cafe one of my favorite spots to eat out in the Slocan Valley... considering I rarely eat out :)



We took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent a quiet day at the beautiful Lakeside park in Nelson so kids can enjoy playing and making friends... we walked around on Baker street and around downtown Nelson rediscovering some of our favorite shops and getting introduced to new ones by Nana... we didn't have any specific agenda except to let kids have fun and maybe relax a bit...



The highlight for both Ana and Oggie seems to have been the Halcyon Hot Springs experience. Floating and splashing about in the hot sulfurous healing springs, which they refer to as "Hot Pool", out in the open, with a view of the mountains, was as much therapeutic to them as watching and splashing with them was for me.



Nana's spinning wheel turned out to be a favorite with Ana, and Jennie's Gardens book store turned out to be my weakness - I would've loved to park myself there and get lost in the books... Jennie's Gardens is the oldest book store in Winlaw, B.C., and imo, not to be missed... and so is Jennie's Book Garden blog.

Of course, Nana spoilt the kids by getting them quite a few books for their book shelves, and was nice enough to buy books of our choice for D and me! Thanks, Nana!



Now that we are settling back to the same old routine, it feels magical to sift through the 100-odd pictures and relive some favorite moments from the trip before it invariably gets pushed aside into the deep dark recesses of the brain, rarely getting accessed and reviewed...

Backyard Bird Counting

This Valentine's Day weekend was the time to participate in GBBC 2010: Great Backyard Bird Counting.

I was excited, naturally, and I managed to get Ana interested by pointing to the birds in our backyard, as well as along the SpringWater Corridor Trail we frequent, capturing the beauties in my camera so we can look up their names, learn more about them.

We were rather laid back and casual about it this year - in terms of counting; we just wanted to get into the spirit of things... and, to learn about at least the ones we were privileged to meet.

Couple of years ago, I did this alone, sitting out on the deck thanks to strict bed-rest orders from the doctor while anxiously awaiting Oggie's arrival...

Along with the mating mallards and the Canada geese in the marshy ponds, we could identify the tiny black-headed juncos, scrub jays, house sparrows, common ravens in our backyard, even common Western gulls (surprisingly a bunch of them have taken up residence in our neighborhood, scrounging off garbage)...

It was nice to go through the regional birds checklist to identify rust-bellied Robins (as we read in I Took The Moon For A Walk"), Towhees, Steller's jays (their harsh squawks are a giveaway as we found out), Red-winged Blackbird we see along the Trail... with many more yet to be identified by us. [Thanks, Mom, for helping with the bird IDs]

Some wrens, warblers, finches, nuthatches, and swallows we could spot, but, not quite identify - thanks to their jittery and shy nature, jumping and hopping and easily startled.

Soon our favorite humming birds will be visiting, as will the Woodpeckers that like to take up residence in the knot-hole in our tree to raise its family, I hope.

It is almost planting season... Was looking back fondly at the 2006 garden and 2007 one where we put in quite a bit of thought and effort... The 2008 garden saw very little effort from me thanks to Oggie's arrival...and the 2009 garden started out happy and thrived alright despite our absence, thanks to the India trip...

Not sure what 2010 garden holds for us... I don't feel ready for the strenuous work it involves, but, thankfully, D likes to take charge. He is a farmer at heart.

The Daffodils are not here yet... they sure have a way of uplifting my spirits. The perennials should all be poking through right on cue - gladioli, star gazer lilies, rain lilies, ranunculus and tulips...

Meanwhile, the rosemary and lavender tantalize our senses when we tour the backyard, while the birds cheer us with their company.