Fred, spring has sprung in your neck of the woods. Those trees and shrubs don't usually bloom here, until April. Believe it or not, I have just about all of them, growing in my yard (dwarfs or lower-growing forms).
That said, spring is just getting underway, here. Once the snowdrops begin blooming, something will be blooming from now on. Since March and April are transition months, with roller coaster temps, the earliest bloomers stay in bloom for weeks, due to cooler temps, and fewer pollinators around (once they visit flowers, they decline rapidly. Snowdrops are the earliest of the Dutch bulbs, and their flowers are very hardy (flowers can endure 20 without turning brown):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5tTUVka99Er7TGWXA



Here are a few TRULY hardy subtropicals, in my yard. The Winter Elephant Ear, or Italian Arum, although buried by snow, earlier in the winter, remain green throughout the winter, regardless of below freezing temps. They go dormant and disappear, by early summer, only to begin growing again, in mid-fall. The leaves on the Italian Arum are arrow head-shaped, and resemble those of another elephant ear, known as the Xanthosoma. Some of you are familiar with Xanthosoma 'Lime Zinger', and its chartreuse leaves:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ka5PRQb66V9KoEut8


Years ago, I got my Poet's Laurel plant from PDN. Like most things they sold about 25 years ago, were rated z7b, and up. As a result, I protected my original plant for many years. Of course, it thrived. However, over the years, it started seeding/naturalizing in my garden, and unprotected seedlings survived my winters. The plants are evergreen:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/SeGbD1hoDNaKEaZe7


AUCUBA japonica, once touted as a subtropical z7 BLE, came through my -10F winter, with just a tarp thrown over it. The weight of the snow on the tarp, mashed its branches down, but it is doing fine. No browning or defoliation (except for the stems from last year's Ostrich Plume Ferns, that were growing through the Aucuba) !


https://photos.app.goo.gl/JcCD53zaXZRhSksdA


Progress is being made with the veggie starts, I sowed, last month. Some have already been moved out of "community" cups, into individual 6-paks.
I don't have to buy veggie starts, and not many annuals from the store. I grow my own. The cool season veggies will be ready to be set out in the garden, next month. The Tomatoes and other warm season veggies will be ready, in May:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/W44rDy1ULLM8B5vK9

https://photos.app.goo.gl/9z9vdWzyNiEmPZ366



In the center of the pic, below (near the Aucuba), is one of FOUR dormant, dwarf fruit trees, I have planted, in my yard, over the past two weeks. This one is a Granny Smith apple:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/rozBm7DvJmzhvM6w6


Below is a pic of a Loblolly Bay (Gordonia), from Woodlanders, I planted, yesterday. Gordonias are evergreen, subtropical trees. Notice that a rose cone is close by, in case I need to do a quick covering:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZW7vJ218V5xQVzyZ6


Below are a few other plants I got from Woodlanders, at the base of a tree rose. I decided to grow them on, potted, for them to get bigger. One is a Cyrilla racemosa 'Graniteville', and the other is an Amethyst Falls Wisteria. I hope to train the Wisteria to a single stem. This variety of Wisteria does not grow as rampantly as the Japanese type, and flowers at a younger age:


https://photos.app.goo.gl/qp28FQtHX8o8wf8C7