I Know It Isn't Spring Yet......

I know it isn't really spring yet, and we're going to get zapped with a few more good freezes before it's really here, but today was a pretty glorious day in the garden!

I got to work early and it was one of those chilly but not painfully cold mornings. It was the perfect morning to take a stroll with my Venti Americano, and see what was going on. I was walking around and realized this is the sort of weather when non-gardeners have no idea what we gardeners are seeing in the pinestraw. Those of us who have that trained eye, though, can see the first tip of green coming up from the base of the hydrangea we thought had perished in that last bad freeze. The daffodils are safely up now, and there are enough of them to see the different cultivars that have been added over the years, some pale and creamy, some screaming lemon yellow, some tiny little dwarfs. There is a good-sized patch of the little dwarf daffodils that are somewhat hidden by the azaleas that have grown up, and we've talked about moving them to a more visible place; this morning I decided, though, that "Mrs" is a walker, too, and I like the idea that when she's walking in this part of the garden, there's a little surprise there behind the shrubs that she won't see until she's right on top of them. If those tiny little daffodils make her smile, I've done my job well.

The tulips that were planted in the fall are poking their heads up ever so carefully, as if they know there will be more freezes. The hyacinths and muscari are also readily visible, as though reaching for the sun. My "neat freak" side thinks I should pull out some of the Dutch hyacinths that have grown a little scraggly over the years, but when it comes time to do it, I always reconsider.

The tiny little "Miss Kim" lilac is starting to show a little bit of leaf growth, and I realize that soon we'll see that lonely single flower that comes every year. Lilacs are definitely one of the things I miss about New England.

Later in the day we got some seeds started; it's hard to believe we're done with frost in just five weeks. Starting tomato seeds, some unusual zinnias, cannas and moon vines in the glass house was promise enough for me that spring is coming soon. And is there any more glorious feeling than the warm sun on the back of your neck as you start that first-of-the-season weeding?