What's Blooming !!

These are pictures of two of my lilac bushes flowering. I grew up in New York so lilacs are one of the flowers I remember best---because really---who could forget the scent of them!
They are also one of the flowers I missed the most growing up in the south.
Then one day I was looking on line a few years ago---and I stumbled on the solution to my problem: a low chill lilac that was bred for California known as Syringa Hyacinthaflora (I think they are also know as Descano lilacs---but I could not remember for sure since I could not find the original story about why the man who bred them did it.)
Traditional French lilacs can be grown here in my area but some years they will not flower if we have too warm of a winter. The hyacinthafloras however, have flowered every year for us---warm winter or not. There are a number of different colors to choose from including dark, medium and light purple, dark and light pinks and white. Another plus for these lilacs is that supposedly these are pretty good about not getting mildew and are also somewhat resistant to borers. So if you live where it is warmer and would like to grow lilacs---the hyacinthaflora group might be the one for you.

Besides the lilacs blooming along our driveway we also have these other plants blooming:

Forsythia--so bright yellow!
Cherry, apple, peach and plum trees blooming (apple trees smell delicious!)
Dogwoods---we have white and a stunning dark pink
Maple trees (I think it is them dropping pollen EVERY WHERE--dusty dusty)
and of course a few tulips, crocus and dandelion---the guaranteed bloomers :-)

I also have buds of blooms getting ready on my clematis, peonies, hesperaloe parviflora,
pink double flowered poppies along with hostas starting to peek up out of the ground. Soon we will have quite a show going on flower wise.

Our pecan trees are also just starting to leaf out. We usually watch the trees to tell us when we have passed our last frost. Big trees---pecans, oaks, maples etc seem to resist putting out leaves until it is really really safe. What signs of nature do you watch for to tell you when warmer weather is truly here?