If only that would work to dispel the rain that has been such a constant feature of this Spring of 2012 on the West Coast of Canada. It has become so tiresome to wake up to one cloudy, cool and (often) rainy day after another. Where is the beautiful Spring we brag about to everyone who lives anywhere else on the middle, eastern and northern parts of North America? We refrain from bragging when we speak with those who live in California, Florida and other sunny places but otherwise we are pretty smug about our climate. This year, there is nothing to be smug about. Nothing!

But on a brighter note, the flowering trees are all in blossom – cherries, plums, magnolias – tulips and daffodils are standing up, colourful and proud, and most deciduous trees are wearing  a gauzy green outline on their branches, in advance of the canopy that will unfurl in the weeks to come. And I mustn’t forget forsythia, which isn’t my favourite shrub by a long shot but it does blaze forth early in spring, no matter how wet it is or how cool.

If only the rain would give me a decent interval in which to work, I would get out in my garden and get busy – adding soil, filling my containers, cleaning up the bits and pieces of dead foliage that linger or were blown into our yard by the many windstorms we have had this Spring. If only! Meanwhile, I’m going to go to the local garden shop today to buy some annuals; the forecast is showing that Saturday will by cloudy … but at least it won’t be raining. But is it too much to ask for some sunshine? Apparently it is!