Spring after a VERY long winter!

[pinksand]

I have to admit, recently I've just been wandering around my garden in search of any sign of the hundred or so bulbs I planted last fall. Studying the ground for sign of any new growth at the base of my crunchy perennials. Although this past weekend was chilly, we had lots and lots of RAIN and now some warm sunny days this week and suddenly my bare gardens seem to have awoken from their long and particularly frozen winter. I was spoiled by a mild first year in our house, with all my pansies surviving the winter and blooming their little hearts out the following spring. This year they lay lifeless, waiting to be composted. Many of my broadleaf evergreens are looking worse for wear with some browning leaves.

Some of my daffodils in particularly sunny locations are in full bloom while others just broke ground with their bluntly pointed leaves. It looks like only about half of my tulips are coming up and I'm assuming someone made a meal of the other half. Various allium leaves are making their first appearance as well as my assortment of hyacinths (grape included). I also have thousands of star of bethlehem that survived when I snuffed out the lawn to create additional garden space last spring. I don't know if I'll ever be able to get rid of them!

I was excited to see the mums I had divided into several tiny plants reseeded in their new locations so now I have numerous baby mum leaves surrounding the parent plants. The bee balm I'd planted and then relocated self seeded in both locations so I'm excited to have more of them! My golden jubilee agastache that I grew from seed last year has gorgeous purple ground foliage that is growing in and turning a lovely chartreuse. For those who don't know, last year I added a stepping path and garden space along the side and front of my house so it was full of many tiny baby plants. I'm excited to see them fill in and start to thrive this year!

It's finally spring!!!

[pinksand]

What are all of your thoughts as you see your garden awaken this spring?

[applestar]

OMG there's SO much to DO

This has been a very late spring. The Manchurian apricot that is the first fruit tree to bloom is just now starting to blossom. The group of daffodils that bloom first in sheltered south facing corner behind the garage are blooming at last.

In the front yard, I was overcome by sense of weirdness... and finally recognized the source: The crocuses I planted along the edge of the. Japanese Maple/wild strawberry island bed years ago are all up and blooming in a nice unbroken row. -- WHY is this weird? Because every spring, the crocus leaves are chomped inches from the ground as soon as they come up, and the flowers, if they manage to grow out the buds at all before being beheaded are soon chewed down to the ground again. I honestly didn't know that all those crocuses were still alive. I wonder what happened to all the rabbits...?

[applestar]

I wanted to add -- my big apple tree is only 1/3 pruned and I still have to prune (and train) the espalier orchard. This is now essentially a month later than when I normally should be pruning. But the peach and cherry flower buds are just now starting swell and show hints of color and hardly any apple or pear blossom buds are stirring yet. So I'm not too late. (Whew!)

But my iPhone has started getting high tree pollen alerts for the area so that must mean the big trees are waking up, too. If the weather app on your smartphone has the allergy alert feature, you might want to turn it on. They make another good phenological indicator. I get alerts for tree pollen, grass pollen and weed pollen as well as mold spores. You can see how they can be interpreted for gardening: For instance, mold spore alerts can mean fungal disease spores are landing on your plants.

[pinksand]

Lol, yes that has been crossing my mind as well... Too much to do in so little time!!!

I'm starting to realize I'm just about the only 26 year old left without a smart phone. I've been digging my heels in because I know once I convert I can't go back. When I do make the switch one day I'll look for the allergy alert feature.

How strange about your crocuses... seen any foxes lately? At least you'll be able to enjoy their color for once

Good luck with the rest of your apple tree!