The beginning of March in New England. It is a typically dreary time when people start to really moan. At least in coastal RI, the snow is usually behind us by this point, but any sort of color in our lives seems very far off. The trees, the grass, and the roads make for a very gray world this time of year. Sunday morning I was watching the news and the weather forecast for pouring rain beginning at noon through Tuesday morning (luckily they were wrong). The thought of another day stuck inside the house was killing me. So I went upstairs and ordered all members of my family to get dressed and get outside before the rain started and while the sun was still shining. What started as a plan for a simple yard clean up and some fresh air turned into a rejuvenation process. As we started to peel back the layers of winter brush, leaves and muck, we found unexpected new life on our plants. The first to catch my eye was this hydrangea shoot starting to take off and its many friends nearby.
Next up the pussy willow tree where I found buds starting to break open in all their white fuzziness.
In just a few weeks, these deep purple buds will be beautiful lilacs.
I was expecting to find my daffodils starting to sprout, but the lillies not so much. Oh my! Look at all the lillies heading my way.
The tall green shoots are the daffodils. I clearly need to plant more.
That little bit of green in the above picture is the start of my irises. These guys were huge and abundant last year, and they bloom on the early side of the season so it won't be too long before we see them.
The start of my poppy. I bought this poppy in the spring of last year because I was looking for things that bloomed early. Unfortunately, the bunnies got to the bud before we saw any flower, and I still need to figure out had to keep my rabbit friends out of this garden this year.
I was not expecting to see the Dianthus I planted last year come back, but apparently I got the Sweet William variety that are perennials. Yay! Or maybe only some will come back. That's what is so fun about gardening. You never really know what you're going to get. Every year I say I'm going to start a garden journal to keep track of what I've planted and how things have done, and every year I don't do it. This will be our fourth summer in our house and it's time I get on it as I'm constantly adding new things and moving things. I know myself well enough to know that I'm not likely to sit down and jot down notes about each plant, but I love to take photos of the garden so this is the beginning of my 2011 Garden Images Journal. The pictures will be a good reminder of years past and I'm going to vow to look back at them at the beginning of each year to remind myself that spring truly is just around the corner. After two hours of clearing yesterday, I can now see it out my kitchen window as fresh green shoots are starting to sprout up. With daylight savings happening this weekend, I have big plans to be spending my evenings in the garden starting next week. As you can see from the pictures, I have a lot of weeding to do!
The beginning of March in New England. It is a typically dreary time when people start to really moan. At least in coastal RI, the snow is usually behind us by this point, but any sort of color in our lives seems very far off. The trees, the grass, and the roads make for a very gray world this time of year. Sunday morning I was watching the news and the weather forecast for pouring rain beginning at noon through Tuesday morning (luckily they were wrong). The thought of another day stuck inside the house was killing me. So I went upstairs and ordered all members of my family to get dressed and get outside before the rain started and while the sun was still shining. What started as a plan for a simple yard clean up and some fresh air turned into a rejuvenation process. As we started to peel back the layers of winter brush, leaves and muck, we found unexpected new life on our plants. The first to catch my eye was this hydrangea shoot starting to take off and its many friends nearby.
Next up the pussy willow tree where I found buds starting to break open in all their white fuzziness.
In just a few weeks, these deep purple buds will be beautiful lilacs.
I was expecting to find my daffodils starting to sprout, but the lillies not so much. Oh my! Look at all the lillies heading my way.
The tall green shoots are the daffodils. I clearly need to plant more.
That little bit of green in the above picture is the start of my irises. These guys were huge and abundant last year, and they bloom on the early side of the season so it won't be too long before we see them.
The start of my poppy. I bought this poppy in the spring of last year because I was looking for things that bloomed early. Unfortunately, the bunnies got to the bud before we saw any flower, and I still need to figure out had to keep my rabbit friends out of this garden this year.
I was not expecting to see the Dianthus I planted last year come back, but apparently I got the Sweet William variety that are perennials. Yay! Or maybe only some will come back. That's what is so fun about gardening. You never really know what you're going to get. Every year I say I'm going to start a garden journal to keep track of what I've planted and how things have done, and every year I don't do it. This will be our fourth summer in our house and it's time I get on it as I'm constantly adding new things and moving things. I know myself well enough to know that I'm not likely to sit down and jot down notes about each plant, but I love to take photos of the garden so this is the beginning of my 2011 Garden Images Journal. The pictures will be a good reminder of years past and I'm going to vow to look back at them at the beginning of each year to remind myself that spring truly is just around the corner. After two hours of clearing yesterday, I can now see it out my kitchen window as fresh green shoots are starting to sprout up. With daylight savings happening this weekend, I have big plans to be spending my evenings in the garden starting next week. As you can see from the pictures, I have a lot of weeding to do!
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Gosh, I love these pics.
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