It's still spring in the garden, both by the calendar and by its progress. Among my favorite pastimes right now is spotting buds of promise. First it's the tightly wound rose buds, not yet revealing any hint of color that they'll later unfurl. Then it's the yellow flowers of hope: tomatoes in the making. And lately, it's the blessings of future blueberries. My favorite stage -- until they're ripe -- is right now, when the lace-edged balls turn almost aqua, with rings of fuchsia surrounding a slightly deeper shade of blue. Soon it will be time to spread the netting to protect them from hungry visitors.

What's budding in your garden? I'm still looking at some pretty small would-be peony flowers.