Early spring flowers

Yesterday I went out early with the dog for our morning walk. It was cold and very wet out there. These are some photos I took in our yard and in the neighbors' yard across the road from our house. They aren't here right now, and we keep an eye on their place so we can let them know if anything seems amiss.

Above are two pictures of the plum tree that I grew from pits starting at least a decade ago. It has really grown a lot over the past couple of years because we've had so much rain. Nobody mentions drought any more so I assume it is over now. We lost half a dozen trees to drought over those five or so dry years.

Above left is a flowering branch of a forsythia bust that was already growing here when we came to live here in 2003. Walt takes good care of it, pruning and shaping it every year. On the right are some of the premula (primrose) plants that come up spontaneously in our yard and in the neighbor's yard too. The woman who sold us the house 22 years ago said when she lived here she would buy pots of primroses every spring and then throw the root balls out into the yard at the end of their growing season. They started coming back up in early spring every year, and they continue to do so.

Above left is what I think is a flowering quince tree that blooms early in the spring every year in our neighbors' yard. On the right is the flower stalk of what people here call a saxifrage plant ("elephant's ears" or Bergenia cordifolia, I think). It was growing here when we moved in as well.