I took the dog out for a walk around the garden this morning and decided it’s still not shorts with a coffee weather, in spite of me trying. There’s a brisk wind blowing and with a temperature just above freezing I decided to give the thermometer a few more hours to warm up and instead cleaned the kitchen. I impressed myself, and now when my wife cleans up every other day I can bring this up as proof that I help… unlike the kids, who are still nearly useless for these things in spite of reports from work that they are quick and on top of things…
A new wave of early spring bulbs is awakening. Pink and purple corydalis, a few chiondoxa blooms, and a carpet of blue Scilla siberica. Each year I debate the ‘enthusiasm’ of the scilla, but it’s hard to think badly of so much blue in the garden.
Speaking of ‘quick and on top of things’, the gardener has been neither. Work is annoying and other than Wednesday afternoon, today is the first day he can get out there for anything. I’m sure someone will suggest he work on the next cabinet for the closet but maybe it’s too cold and windy for that. Sawdust blowing and swirling all through the garage is practically the definition of unsafe working conditions, and we’d be going backwards if some of that blows into the clean kitchen.
Fading snowdrops and the first peony sprouts. Neither cares that nightime lows can still drop well below freezing.
Maybe I’ll try and slap a few things together and then head out back with the shovel. Cold and windy is excellent digging weather and I still have a couple thousand tons of earth to move.
The spring snowflakes(Leucojum vernum) are up and trying to hold up to the battering wind. Someone mentioned that they don’t bloom long and now that’s all I think of when I see them, counting the days since they opened and questioning how many more days of bloom will be ‘long enough’.
What I should really do is divide and move a few billion snowdrops and stray seedlings. If I wait another year things might go beyond knowing who is who, and among snowdrop snobs having the wrong name with the wrong flower is akin to eating your salmon with a salad fork and we can’t have that.
I neglected to deadhead this batch of snowdrops (G.elwesii) last spring and will now have to deal with a sea of grass-like seedlings. Obviously they’re too precious to just weed out.
And now I’m hungry. I’m afraid to dirty the kitchen with a snack before anyone has the chance to admire it but am also pretty sure the empty bags of Easter candy will be a bigger deal, and no one will even acknowledge my hard work this morning. If you have coffee with your peanutbutter eggs it’s breakfast and people shouldn’t deny you breakfast when you’re cleaning the house for Palm Sunday.
Have a great week!
sorta like suburbia 
Kudos for kitchen cleaning, a task worthy of great admiration, imo. The sea of blue and pink in the first photo is inspiring. I think I need to order a few hundred bulbs to recreate it!
Just order a couple. Hundreds of bulbs is just too much work, and if they like the spot they’ll do the hard work themselves. You just have to take that first step lol
It’s always fun to read your posts. I agree with Eliza in admiring that first photo. Would love some enthusiasm from such beauties and less from weeds in my own garden. Hide those empty bags of candy, quickly!
The empty candy bags were hidden under some papers in the trash, and there’s suspicion but no proof 😉
The weeds are coming on strong here as well, I think it’s two more weeks before the ocean of bittercress starts shooting it’s seed all over the place, and probably even into an eye or ear, which of course causes a lot of jumping around and shaking.
We had a single day a couple of weeks ago where I also considered shorts, but glad I didn’t as there is still a cold wind and now we are back to frosty nights and single digits in the day time. The pink Corydalis is something I haven’t tried growing here yet, but it did well in my rockery in the last garden so should survive being baked in summer here too I suppose… must add it to my list for autumn. 😃 I love Scilla and Chionodoxa – I can never have enough blue in the garden at any time of year, but especially in spring. Hope it warms up a bit more for you this week. ☀️
Oh my gosh, either I didn’t check the forecast or today was a surprise because when I came down out of the hills (our weak little mountains) the thermometer went up ten degrees to 77F (25C). Too warm for early spring flowers and too warm for digging, so I’m hiding in the house until the sun lowers a bit.
You can’t beat early flowers in blue which are no trouble at all. I don’t know why I even think about them spreading too much, it could hardly ever be a problem!
Wow, and here it was just 2°C and I was out in the garden with 2 jackets on! LOL!
yikes, that was us three days ago!
Warmer weather is arriving here along with rain. That should provide some flowers but the snow still has the garden too wet to work in it doing cleanup. Can’t wait until I have as much blooming as you do. But Peony buds are pushing up. Love them almost as much as the flowers. Congrats on cleaning the kitchen. I’m at the point where I’ll do it for company but I can live with a lot more chaos than I used to.
Heh heh, I think your ‘a lot more chaos’ would pale in comparison to the looks of our kitchen some mornings. I’m not entirely sure how two kids can use so many dishes after dark, but some how they manage!
You’ll have those spring blooms soon enough. It’s too warm here today and the 10 day looks like everything will explode faster than I’d like, so it will be a priority to sit around lots enjoying each bloom as it comes. The weeds (and kitchen) can wait 😉
you crack me up! I love your blog, esp. on a gloomy Monday.
Here in Chicagoland, stuff is coming up. Winter pansies are blooming, as are the hellebores. Something has been eating the tulip foliage, but whatever. Also, we’ve had too much rain, always a treat to walk on spongy grass. Don’t forget all the elm tree buds that have fallen, and find their way into every room of my house>
haha, thanks Mary!
The dog got into a bunny nest the other day and even though they do nibble things here and there, they’re way too cute to hold a grudge against. That and I don’t want to offend any bunnies so close to Easter. Hopefully they don’t eat too much of your tulips.
We’ve got some red maple buds raining down but I don’t think that even compares to all the buds which elms drop. There’s always something, right?
Things are moving on but not so as to venture outdoors in shorts! It’s still wellington books and a few layers of clothing here when gardening and the ground is horribly wet. Nonetheless the plants are growing and, as with you, the paeonias are sprouting and some are even into bud.
Paddy you wouldn’t believe how warm it turned today. 77F (25C) and I didn’t even want to pick up a shovel or think about working. I’ll need to break myself in to these temperatures again, hopefully it doesn’t go higher yet because I’d like to enjoy the daffodils for more than just a day or two…
Too hot!!!
My goodness, all of those iddy bitty seedlings. I have never seen such a thing. Your soil must be fabulous. We about blew away here. The horrible tornadoes that killed people were just 20 miles north of where we live. It was scary just having the winds blowing through here. I keep thinking that our trees could no longer drop limbs and sticks but each big blow proves my thoughts wrong. Those Scillas and Corydalis are giving your garden some real Easter colors. I hope you are having a great week. Hang on to your hat.
I don’t think I would ever describe my soil as fabulous! Actually I have no idea how so many bulbs seeds managed to sprout since this spot especially can barely grow a good weed, but I guess they got just the right moisture at just the right time.
Sorry to hear you were so close to the tornado devastation but I’m glad you came through ok. The stupid red maples here keep dropping stuff but nothing too big fortunately.
My daughter said the flowers were looking nice, just like a cotton candy colored flower bed, and I guess she’s right. After a couple months of drab browns and grays I ‘ll take any color.
You are hilarious – I know I start every comment on your blog with those words. You must have worn shorts the other day — it hit 90 here. I am way behind where I want to be, as it’s often too cold or too hot for me to work outside. Happy spring! P. x
Haha, you bet I had to wear shorts, it was terribly hot and I (and the daffodils) hated it!
Much nicer today for working in the garden, but probably a little on the cold side if you’re not digging and moving tons of dirt 😉