The garden didn't go on vacation.

The first thing I usually do when we've been gone is to see how things are looking in the backyard. It's surprising what changes can take place in 4 or 5 days. We were lucky to come home to some mild temperatures and even a peek of the sun. While we were gone though I heard we had some strong winds and quite a bit of rain which made me more anxious to see how things were looking outside. I'm always a little worried that a tree or fence may have blown over or that a raccoon has punctured a hole in the pond liner and it will be empty. Luckily aside from a few small things blowing off our deck everything looked good.

The first thing I noticed on my way outside was that the Amaryllis 'Piquant' bloomed. There are 4 lightly scented flowers on the stalk. What a nice way to be greeted.

I found Primroses blooming in Sweet Pea's garden. She planted these all last winter and even in all the shade they're in, they have quite a few flowers.

The heavenly scent of the Sarcococca ruscifolia carried across the yard, it took me a minute to realize what I was smelling. When we left they had just started to bloom and the scent wasn't that strong.

Even more exciting are that the Hellebores 'Royal Heritage' are blooming! Isn't it beautiful?

Another 'Royal Heritage'. I found these a few years ago at a grocery store and found 3 plants inside the one gallon container. The third one hasn't bloomed yet this year.

One more Primrose along the path is getting ready to bloom. I'd seen Primroses at the store recently but thought it was too early to plant them. I guess if the Primroses in my yard are already blooming it might not be too early to add some new ones.

While outside I thought I'd see if anything was happening with the winter sowing I had started a week earlier. I was very surprised to see that the Dwarf Morning Glory from Lona had already sprouted!
I'm sure glad that while we were gone enjoying ourselves the garden didn't take a break.