The Spring Equinox~~Spring is Here!

purple and white hyacinth sentinels
(pink not yet blossomed)

Ahhh, the first day of spring.  No more winter, no more cold; birds, blossoms, sunshine…yeah, right!!!  The only signs of spring around here happen to be the beautiful hyacinths that burst forth 3 days ago, along with the yellow and orange daffodils and pink azaleas that I didn’t even know I had.  But they give us hope. Hope that spring may truly just be around the corner. Because the gray cloudy skies, 50 degree temps, blustery cold winds and the forecast of rain and snow sure don’t give you any hint or hope!

yellow daffodils all in a row

Spring fever had me captured for a few days. Last week we had some beautiful warm days in the high 60s and low 70s.  The sky was its usual magnificent blue, and it spurred me forward to work more in the gardens. So far I have garlic coming up, planted more garlic and spring onions along with shallots (way too expensive in the store so bought some sets and thought we’d see how that goes).  Also have removed and ugly cedar bushes, tearing ground cloth and disgusting pieces of bark from one of the front side yards, in now in its place is a semi-dwarf nectarine, and five rose bushes…3 new and 2 transplanted from large pots where they have been growing for 3 years. And this week a fabulous pear tree was also given a home out of a pot and into the ground by the large granite boulders that surround our home. I trimmed back overgrown hawthorne bushes and took out a couple of pine tree saplings, along with trimming the branches up about 6’ on another pine tree and removing some dead growth, so now the 2 lilacs in that area can get sun and be happy enough to bloom. Hopefully they will all be happy in their new homes.

Azaelea flowers popping

So while we take the tomato, pepper, jalapeno, green bean, fennel and other seedlings and small plants in and out each day to get their dose of sun and warmth, we hurry along each day so that I can soon be out actually putting them in the ground. And I pour over seed and plant catalogs, marveling at the atrocious prices, and hoping I can find local and less costly substitutes locally. I must get potatoes in the ground along with beets and peas, so maybe this rain will finish up on Monday and warmer temps will help spur me along to actually get those cold weather/early spring crops into the ground.  Right now I have glass tumbling in the rock tumbler hopefully turning into beautiful sea glass to dress my beds and pots, and I will go put on my coat and gloves and give the new transplants a bit of a drink just in case all we get out of this is wind, cold, and a few spits of rain. 

Plum Tree in Bloom

Come on spring!