Beautiful spring days have been few and far between this year, so when last Saturday dawned bright and clear, I knew it was time to head for Joy Creek Nursery.

An early visit allows one to focus on emerging plants like this Rogersia. Sorry, I failed to make a note of the full name, but I will be back to see if it maintains the wonderful bronze tones it is showing early in its cycle. If so, I must have one of these.

No slug damage on these emerging Hosta leaves, and the light was just right to emphasize the dance created by their veining.

And speaking of dancing foliage, get a load of this clump of Muscari macrocarpum ‘Golden Fragrance’. It is always a learning experience to see how they do things here. I have been wanting some of these, and now I will order up a small amount and plant them all in a clump, like this, rather than spreading them out.

The almost needle-like leaves of Berberis lologensis stay on the plant through the winter. Its flowers are more prominent than those on most barberries.

When you have a nice bamboo grove like the one at the entrance to Joy Creek, the bonus is plenty of material to build structures like this.

Vignettes of conifers have kept this garden interesting all winter. Now they take more of a supporting role as the divas begin to take the stage.

I have written often about the way they have limbed up the huge Rhododendrums around the house, so I thought I should show you what they look like. Quite an improvement over the way they so often are allowed to become big, dark blobs of leaves in foundation plantings around town.

Several of these metal sculptures do their part to keep things interesting.

This was not primarily a shopping trip, but after all the hospitality shown me it would have been downright rude to leave empty-handed. I have been wanting a Madrone to add to my evergreen drive, so right after I leave you, out I go to plant this Arctostaphylos densiflora ‘Harmony’. Oh, and about that hospitality…if you go on a weekend, they make the best chocolate chip cookies!