Not really a surprise, but I had read so much about Agastaches being difficult to overwinter that I didn't hold out much hope for them after this weird, long, wet winter with wild temperature swings and no reliable snow cover. All of mine appear to have lived and are sending up a multitude of new shoots from the base.

To soon to tell,we still have snow on the ground.

Still early here too, but I was surprised by a clump of lily seedlings sprouting. They were planted about a year and a half ago, so I was mostly just too lazy to dump out the pot but I guess that's a good thing in this case!

It's a bit too early for me, as well, but I did have a pleasant surprise last year. I have a spot that I buy a Tibouchina for every year, enjoy for the year and then dig up in the spring and place a new one. They aren't hardy here, supposedly. Well, I didn't get around to getting a new one last year, so I just let it go and lo and behold, it came up about mid-summer and started flowering late summer/early fall! So surprised!

Put in a Black Barlow columbine root last year. It never came up. It put in an appearance last week.

No surprises so far other than borderline zone hardy things in S/M/L containers that survived the winter.

Karolina11 - my lungwort 'Raspberry Splash' growing in part sun is blooming and healthy but 'Gaelic Sunset' planted in full shade is slowly dying--gets smaller every year altho' it has hung on for 3+ years at this point.

ispahan - Agastaches are part of the mint family (read: impossible to kill). Feel the stems--you'll find they're square. All the agastache varieties I've planted thus far have come back reliably year after year--even one I yanked out because it grew too tall for the space I'd allocated for it. I'm a bit surprised to see those I grew from seed via winter sowing are coming up after spending the whole winter in quart pots on my breezeway where they got zero pampering & no sun.

freki - keep the faith--my black Barlow columbine is up again & this makes its 3rd year (hallelujah!). That said, I harvest seeds every year just to be on the safe side.

Another small surprise. Last spring I purchased a small 2" pot of autumn squill, Scilla autumnalis (aka Prospero autumnalis) while browsing at Arrowhead Alpines in Michigan. The little pot did extremely well last year and even sent up 3-4 daintily beautiful bloom spikes in August.

This spring, I have been anxiously waiting for signs of life from these little bulbs. I was disappointed to notice only one shoot come up where I thought the clump was. Lo and behold, the lone shoot I found was actually a Tulipa sylvestris and just yesterday the clump of autumn squill burst forth from the ground right next to it. Best part is, it has at least doubled in size, spreading in both girth and number of bulbs.

This is a small victory, but a sweet one nonetheless!

Well, it was rather a surprise yesterday when I thought my Anemone bulbs that I put in the ground 3 weeks ago were breaking ground, only to then realize that it was actually hostas that I didn't realize were still in that area! So, now what? Dig up the hosta (and the bulbs will be dug up too, no matter how careful I am) or...pinch the leaves of the hostas that break the surface and hope that it will stop them? I chose number two, we'll see how it goes.

Snow drops-well, one of them anyway. Didn't see it last spring (1st spring here was last year). Also, poppies, I thought when I cleaned up that bed last year they would be gone, but there's even more this year!!

I think this year will end up being one where being in the south didn't help, possibly a detriment to a lot of things. There really was no winter here, just a few frosts. Everything marginal in my yard was back, growing well, then got knocked by frost again at the end of March, mostly clouds and lots of rain since. I think some things are just too mad and insulted by that to try again. Still too early to know for sure... Haven't been in the south long, but I even I know it's crazy to have to say that mid-April!

Tomorrow night the low is predicted here for 42. Sending good vibes to everybody north of here! Going to be a long night.

Purple, you sent me into a panic, running to find the local weather forecast! Looks like we aren't that cool. Our lowest night on the 7-day is 44 on Sunday night, although not a big dif from you. Everything should be fine.

I actually have seen the opposite result this year. Everything seems to be twice as big and lush as previous years! Asiatic lilies are huge and many, creeping phlox is more lush than ever, crocosmia is the healthiest this year I have ever seen it and it's about 5 years old, clems are doing better--just a few examples. Everything looks so green and lush, like it's been growing in a greenhouse! I attributed it to the wet winter, so your comments are very interesting to me. Of course, we had exactly three days of spring. Went right from frost to 3 days of spring, to summer weather. Such a strange year!

Bought two pots of liatris for the butterflies last year.

Both "died" during our hot dry summer. Or so I thought... they must have just gone dormant. Both are coming back strong now, even the one I never got around to planting.

Also have Woodland Phlox everywhere this year. Which is surprising, since the voles killed most of the plants two years ago. I guess the survivors must have reseeded!

I half suspected Euphorbia x martinii "Ascot Rainbow" would return this spring, but it was still a pleasure to see it sprouting new growth (the plant tag had indicated it was hardy only to about 20F, and we were down around 7F for the lowest reading this past winter).

I honestly didn't think I would have any surprises per se. But, last year I planted a fern leaf peony and it did well for a couple of months and then all of a sudden got brown and "died". Along with some other plants in that same bed. I thought maybe I had some sort of issue with that bed. I had entirely thought I lost it, but I was just outside and it is up!! And not only that, it has buds!! This is a complete surprise to me and I literally was doing a happy dance and clapping. This experience is something I've had happen
In the past. That's the reason I NEVER dig anything out until well into the next year when I'm certain without a shadow of a doubt it's dead.

Pulsatilla - every year, my pasque flowers hover on the verge of extinction, often getting mugged out by larger, bad mannered thuggish types. This year, I especially waited for signs of life, ruthlessly clearing rue and toadflax out of the way.
Forgive shaky pic - still very much a camera novice (with bad eyes)

torajima - I planted liatris several years ago for the butterflies but ultimately decided I didn't like them. Dug them up, gave away as many as I could find homes for and threw the rest over the hill behind my garage. When they came back even after such rough treatment, I decided to give them a second chance. I still don't like them but since the butterflies do, they're here to stay.

Fingers crossed my woodland phlox returns--I just planted it in May of 2011.

Salvia- I purposely dug up a plant d/t it bringing too many bees. I could have sworn I dug up entire plant. Last year it grew back lush and is growing up lush right now.