Signs of Green Life in the North

It's time to clear away the dead growth and dry leaves! While I have no obsessive cleaning genes in my body, this type of tidying is exciting because it reveals the new green growth of spring bulbs. Incidentally, those bulbs are now over two weeks late. I won't complain as long as they produce flowers soon. At this rate, we could have a lot of tulips in July.
Here are my first Fosteriana tulips, a white and yellow flowered variety named "Sweetheart".

Fosteriana tulips (or Emperor tulips) are known for being the earliest blooming of the larger tulips, with the tiny botanical tulips blooming the very earliest. They should also return reliably year after year.
Here are the oh-so-tardy crocuses, just showing their greens at this point.

I sowed seeds for pumpkins, soy beans, parsley and cilantro under the lights two days ago. I'll be planting these outside in June.

The cherry tomato plants are growing well, getting too tall for this seed-starting shelf. I keep the lights low to promote sturdy growth, but have to move the plants as they get taller.

Thank you to the local community group who gave me this lovely potted mum after I gave a talk and slideshow on gardening last week. It was a lot of fun to share my gardening obsession with like-minded folk!