It was the fresh new rose leaves that lured me outside last Sunday. I'd been away for six days and the miracle of spring growth had worked overtime!

Rose leaf admiration is a favorite pastime– do any of you feel the same way? Just look at the elegant slant of the newest leaves on Hybrid Perpetual, Grandmother's Hat. Heritage roses often have distinctive even unique leaves.

The varied color of new leaves is also swoon worthy, and is why I grabbed my camera. I thought it would be fun to focus on one leaf color and use the opposite color as a blurred background.

Then I thought 'dare I shoot the garden?' I tried without success until I remembered the panorama feature on my iPhone.

These shots border the lawn at the front of our house. The pruned shape of the bushes is still evident, but before long continued growth will hide the ground and the fencing.

Crepuscule and her companion abutilon look so tidy and contained – a study of trimmed texture. Later these two will look like this in a magazine layout.

I turned away from Crepuscule and the bright yellow leaves of Spirea said, "Come on, enough about rose leaves."

  The lorapetalum chimed in, "I mean really."

Camellias, hellebores, clematis armandii, brunnera and many more garden 

treats are daily celebrating their return.

How does your garden grow? I'd love to hear from you.