Springing In The Rain

Day 182: The garden is convinced it's spring, but I have some reservations. As I look out the window toward the Mountain (toward where the Mountain ought to be, anyway), I am seeing fresh snow on trees a mere thousand feet above. There is a decided nip in the air, one which keeps me from any thoughts of smoothing out the soil in the Currant Extension so that I can lay landscape fabric (weed barrier) and mulch. The spirit is willing, anxious in fact, but for all the good wishing will do, the rakes and shovels will just have to stay in the garage for another few days. The "dream books" are dangerous; I've ordered a dwarf mulberry, figuring that small harvests of gooseberries, mulberries and currants can all go in the same jam kettle for the first few years until the bushes bear enough to make individual batches. Nasty weather notwithstanding, the blueberries, kiwis and raspberries are starting to leaf out. Two tomato plants (Oregon Spring and Sungold) will be playing in-again-out-again-Finnegan from porch to kitchen until I'm sure Jack Frost is gone for good.

The Bloomin' Garden

Day 177: It seems like every day now, something new opens up in my bloomin' garden. The latest flush includes Snowflakes (Leucojum, not to be confused with Snowdrops which are much shorter and bloom earlier), Checkered/Fritillary Lilies (Fritillaria) and ... now wait a minute! It's been twenty-five years since I planted hyacinths and wrote them off as a bad idea when the mole undermined all of them. How is it, then, that I have one sickly-looking Hyacinth in the front flower bed? I know that some species of plants (notably Phantom Orchids) can remain dormant for decades, but it's not a trait I associate with cultivated varieties. Still, I'll take what I get. I'll mark it and lift it in the fall to give it a better chance of survival.

That said, today's project is to locate some Pixwell gooseberry plants for the Currant Extention. I salvaged one of my old ones, but it wants company. While the berry garden doesn't add much colour to the yard, jams, jellies and frozen fruit sure make winter easier to bear.