Happy Spring

It may have officially arrived but it's darn cold in the AM. This morning was a 4 layer morning with the usual 10:00 thinning. I chuckle everyday when I begin to defrock, gardeners can be so plump in early spring and once we begin to wear regular clothes people think we have lost weight, but it was just a layer thing.

I toured my own garden seeking things in bloom. March can be an exciting month but really pretty dismal when it comes to flowers. The usual suspects greet me once again, although I will say that I went a bit crazy in fall with new daffodils. That's an April post. But for today I got down on the ground and photographed what I had. All of which I am grateful for.

One new addition is Corydalis solida. I used to have C. 'George Baker' but it disappeared after many years, so I splurged on 25 tubers. The straight species is lovely, as pink as anyone might want. 

In helleborus I have a few from Pine Knot Farm before they were breeding interspecies hybrids, none of these are named. Sadly Judith has passed but a new generation is keeping the nursery going, they are located in Clarksville, VA. 

Also flowering is Helleborus 'Quilty' a hybrid from Graham Birkin of England. I'm so happy to have kept one of his plants when it was easier to just sell them all when I had the plant farm. He was a terrific hybridizer. 

Hairy bitter cress is ever present, the weed that spreads its seeds far and wide. I suggest you hoe them out from the edges of your garden where they may persist in your lawn. Do that soon so you avoid the bigger problem of the explosive seed dispersal. Botanically known as Cardamine hirsuta, it's a winter annual, so simply knocking their heads off is good for now. 

As I was crawling around my last guinea was staying close, certainly wondering what had gotten into me. This last one, a male has made it through another winter. Two weeks ago it was scared out of its tree perch by a predator (most likely an owl)  and came screaming down to the door, frantic about the experience and the dark. In past years, when all of our roosting guineas would react like this, they would gather at the door under a shrub and wait out the night. The shrub is gone and there is really nowhere to hide so I had no choice but to stay with him, wondering what on earth was going to happen. Well to my surprise he escorted me to the old chicken coop, went inside and waited for me to shut the door. It's been 2 years since any guinea has set foot in that coop. We were able to both sleep through the night, the smart guinea and the tired me. They are much smarter than you think. 

And with that I wish you a Happy Spring (again)!

Comments

[van]

I know that it is spring, you Karen are in heaven.so happy spring back to you.

[Scott]

Technically, that would be a four dog morning... ;-)

I start in a local garden centre next Friday. The elderly must stay engaged. :D

[Karen Rexrode]

What???!!! That's fabulous Scott, we will talk plants, endlessly!