"Magenta Tulips and Grape Hyacinths" (oil on linen; 8" x 10")

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Magenta tulips and blue-violet grape hyacinths in my garden were blooming gloriously one day; they were gone the day after I took the reference photo.  Deer ate them!

"Crocuses and Miniature Daffodils" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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Reference photo

Crocuses are one of the first flowers that bloom in a spring garden.  Their yellow, white, and purple flowers shout, "Wake up!  It's spring!"  In some years, these hardy babies will poke through a snow-covered ground.  Not this year, of course.  They naturalize nicely too, multiplying year after year.   Gardeners love them for one more reason.  Deer don't seem to care for them. 

Another spring bulb deer avoid to the gardeners' delight is the daffodil.  Miniature daffodils, my husband informs me, are the ancestors of modern, big, flashy daffodils.  As you can see in the above picture, they are about the same height as and perfect companions for crocuses.

One thing I have noticed lately while painting spring flowers is that flowers in a natural setting look, well, more natural than those in a still-life setup.  A good reason to get out there and dig.  It is hard to be inside painting when it is a glorious spring day outside.