First Spring Flowers

I am back from a two week trip in BC and SK. Today is sunny and beautiful, so I had an opportunity to admire the first spring flowers. Resident lawn-mower-man (aka dear husband) was commissioned with recording the date of the very first bloom in my absence. The dwarf irises bloomed on April 15 this year. From my "extensive archives", first bloom was April 18 in 2005 and April 10 in 2006.
The Pulsatilla vulgaris (prairie crocuses) have buds but no blooms. The botanical tulips (Tulipa tarda Daystemon, Tulipa turkestanica, Tulipa pulchella Eastern Star) are about 2 inches tall and will bloom in mid-May. I hope to see more of them this year, since botanical tulips (aka species tulips) are extremely long-lasting and are supposed to multiply each year.
The first of the snow crocuses started blooming today. Snow crocus "Advance" has a tiny little yellow flower, the whole plant being barely over one inch tall. I have planted several clusters of these itsy-bitsy crocuses, but unless one studies the rock garden very closely, one could easily overlook them. You would probably have to plant at least 100 of them in a cluster to make an obvious show.
Of course, the regular purple, yellow, and white large-flowered crocuses are enjoying the sunlight today, with clusters of them planted at the bottom of the large bank of sedum.
Thankfully, the mosquitoes are still asleep in their mosquito lairs. Soon I'll be putting the bug spray out with the garden tools!