Sunday, March 23, 2014

First Signs of Spring



I've spotted a few red-winged blackbirds, the chipmunks have been sunning themselves on the front steps, and the snow has started to melt. Today, my husband noticed green shoots in the backyard. Last fall I planted bulbs. In an attempt to thwart our abundant burrowing creatures, I covered most of the bulbs with hardware cloth. Apparently my strategy worked because the ipheion were sprouting through the hardware cloth. Today, although the temperature is 21oF and much of the yard is still under snow, I started gardening. I removed all of hardware cloth I could find. (Some is still buried under snow.) The ipheion are coming up like gangbusters, the anemones have pink shoots, and the chionodoxa are sprouting. I saw no signs yet of the scilla or the bluebells, but the snowdrops are blooming.

6 comments:

Susan Miller said...

Finally! A picture of something springy happening!

Ann Finkelstein said...

Susan: Thanks. I hope more will follow soon.

Patti Richards said...

God bless you for this glimpse of Spring! Woo Hoo!!!!

Ann Finkelstein said...

Thanks, Patti. This morning I received a newsletter from one of my favorite plant companies. They warned eager gardeners against disturbing the mulch around sprouting plants. I hope I haven't done more harm than good by removing the hardware cloth.

TimInMich said...

Thank you! How refreshing. I haven't seen any flowers in bloom, though some of my daffodils and such are poking up a little. I haven't seen any birds of spring besides a couple of robins, and they're not as reliable harbingers as red-wings(since some stay, in the woods). I didn't know red-wings were back already. I reckon I need to get out a little more. (My boots went kaput, so that limits my ambling areas till I get new ones.)

Ann Finkelstein said...

Tim: I hate to admit this, but I saw the red wings while driving on the highway to and from from A2 and DTW to transport the lads.