Yesterday was gorgeous and sunny. When I went out to bring in the pillows that I had aired, I discovered this little crocus in bloom. It is always the earliest one to bloom and is easily the smallest one. The flower you see is about the size of my thumb nail.

I pulled back some of the leaves from the Dutch bulbs so the stems would grow straight. I looked again for the fritillaria but could not find a sign of them. It appears that the iris are beginning to grow under the leaves too. It is going to be the great guessing game to decide when to take the leaf cover off the iris. If I take it off too soon and there is a frost, I will loose the flower buds. If I wait too long, the leaves and stems that grow under the leaves will be brittle and break when I do take the leaf cover off; I will loose a lot of flowers. It is so difficult to balance the pros and cons.