Today we’re celebrating spring with frequent GPOD contributor Carla Zambelli Mudry in Malvern, Pennsylvania.

Spring is finally back, and every day brings new discoveries in the garden—heirloom daffodils opening all over, shrubs starting to pop with little bits of fuzzy green. Once again, the first tree to bloom will be a volunteer native redbud (Cercis canadensis, Zones 4–9).

Enjoy the first days of spring!

Wonderful hellebores (Helleborus hybrids, Zones 5–9) are the dependable standby of the early spring garden.

Soft cream-colored hellebores are a great counterpoint to the intense yellow of the daffodils behind them.

This double hellebore has rows of extra petals spotted with purple. Behind it are some of the older blooms, which have begun to fade and flush green but are no less beautiful.

This wonderfully elegant heirloom daffodil looks like it might be the variety ‘Beersheba’ (Narcissus ‘Beersheba’, Zones 4–8).

A tree peony (Paeonia hybrid, Zones 3–8) pushes out new, red-flushed growth. Soon this will transform into green leaves and enormous flowers.

The stems are bare for now, but soon the garden shrubs will be showing green.

Who can have enough daffodils? This one has a dark orange corolla flanked by nearly white petals.

Nothing says spring like a classic bright yellow daffodil, which is about as cheerful as a flower can possibly be.

And, of course, don’t forget to bring some spring blooms inside to enjoy up closer.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Lee Valley Garden Knife

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

These knives have a trowel-like blade with a sharp edge to let you use the same tool for digging, planting and cutting. The blade is sharpened on both sides, with serrations on one edge to help with cutting tough roots or dividing perennials. Deeply stamped markings on the blade (in 1/2" and 5mm increments) help you set the correct planting depth for seeds and bulbs.

Buy at Lee Valley

Buffalo-Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Buffalo-Style Gardens is a one-of-a-kind, offbeat garden design book that showcases the wildly inventive gardens and gardeners of Buffalo – and offers readers "the best of the best” ideas to use in their own small-space gardens.

Buy at Amazon

The Nature of Oaks: The Rich Ecology of Our Most Essential Native Trees

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

The Nature of Oaks reveals what is going on in oak trees month by month, highlighting the seasonal cycles of life, death, and renewal. From woodpeckers who collect and store hundreds of acorns for sustenance to the beauty of jewel caterpillars, Doug Tallamy illuminates and celebrates the wonders that occur right in our own backyards. He also shares practical advice about how to plant and care for an oak, along with information about the best oak species for your area.

Buy at Amazon