Spring Approacheth (but don’t get too excited yet)

There are now some lovely little “English daisies” (Bellis perennis) coming up in the lawn in places, their fuschia-and-white blooms contrasting nicely with the bright yellow of the dandelions (I like to think of the latter as droplets of sunlight rather than weeds).  I can see trillium beginning to unfurl in the back, but can’t quite make it out to check on them and take pics.  Maybe later today if it stays sunny and dry…  The red-flowering currants by the house are beginning to open up, and many of the deciduous shrubs and trees have bright green tips as they also unfurl for the season.

[addendum: had stidkid#1 take a few pics for me! Here are the daisies.]

I think the dewdrops and the way the grass seems to curl protectively over the daisies are so pretty!

But yesterday we had snow…  big fluffy flakes an inch across, mixed in with a VERY cold rain.  It was just above freezing here near the water so nothing accumulated,  though I am certain up a few hundred feet it was sticking.  This morning it was below freezing when I woke up but the clear skies overnight meant there was no real danger of more than a thick frost. I am holding off planting anything (or indeed, ordering anything new) until we have some consistently nice weather.  Besides, the garden is still to wet to work.

Garden plans for this year:  move the blueberries from their current location to the more appropriate boggy area closer to the road.  Replace the bird netting we used to wall off the garden with sturdier deer netting.  Make an actual gate into the garden so I can trundle a wheelbarrow in.  Build a cold frame — maybe.  Move one of the Asian pears to a bigger space (currently too close to one of the apple trees).

Remove the dead and dying elderberries and replace with new…  I like having elderberries for the birds that depend on them, and the location they volunteered in creates a nice screen between the house and the front yard.  Rework the dahlia beds — yes, this will mean lifting them at the wrong time of the year, but if I have time and energy this spring, then this is when it will be done.  It’s one of the bigger tasks.

Figure out a way to get grass (or something) to grow in the areas the big-pawed, big-eared, big-hearted galoot likes to run.  Or not.  Maybe I’ll just stand in line for a few loads of woodchips.  Eventually that area will be our parking spot, with permeable paving.  Like this example from Creative Environmental Design, show what it can look like 6 months after installation and at 1 year…  there are various systems, this is an inset block, there is also a sort of grid system that I like.

But soon spring will arrive in earnest and we can celebrate growth and life…  perhaps by the time July rolls around?