An Unwelcome Houseguest

Poor, poor tulips.

We just got an enormous dump of heavy, wet snow. Getting a snowstorm like this in late April is disgusting. There's no other word for it. I walked by the tulip bed at the edge of the driveway and I felt like apologizing to them like the snowstorm was some unexpected half-relation-houseguest who showed up during a dinner party and put his dirty feet on the table and dropped cigarette ash into the soup.

I woke in the night to sounds of tree limbs cracking and falling, and by morning we had lost and regained our power several times. Overall we got 12-14 inches of snow although it's hard to say just how much because the snow is so heavy with water that it packed itself down as it fell. The damage to the trees has been phenomenal. Many had leafed out significantly and the leaves caught the snow beautifully. But watching it pile up, I had an impending sense of doom that was realized in the morning when the snowbanks were littered with maple branches, flowering crabapple trees and other early green.

Spring Sputters

Yesterday we got out in the yard and spent most of the day weeding, transplanting and cleaning up. It felt wonderful! I guess I like yardwork more than your average person. Kevin planted some garlic his parents gave us, I dug dandelions out of the strawberry patch, and we moved several aging or crowded plants to new locations. Because we removed a tree last year, we have a newly extended area in one flower bed. I had Kevin split a chunk of tall phlox --- they were too tough for me to cut through --- and I moved them into the new spot. In front, I planted some new lillies given to us by my co-worker. Next, I moved in some creeping phlox and a little bit of bee balm that I'd accidentally weeded out of somewhere else. Not the most well-planned garden, but I think it might actually turn out OK. All in all the gardens are starting to look quite nice. The recent sunshine and seasonable temperatures have encouraged the tulips to bloom and everything is beginning to jump up. We mowed for the first time yesterday, too, and the sounds and the smell were like a comforting hand on my shoulder. Spring may still sputter a bit but winter sure is over!

Oliver and the Seedlings

The seeds Oliver and I planted have sprouted and we look at them every day, watching their slow progress. Oliver likes to help water them but I must say that it's caused a couple of disasters. He likes to rearrange the pots in the bay window, and his complicated reorganization of the containers sometimes leads to droppage. We've cleaned up quite a bit of dirt. But .... I keep saying to myself that the seedlings that survive Oliver are likely to be more resilient than those that don't. We got more seedlings when we visited the Farr's recently --- they had too many young herbs for their overflowing greenhouse so we stuffed a bunch into baggies to bring home. They survived the car trip and the transplant and seem to be doing nicely - we've now got a ton of basil, chives, sage, cilantro and parsely. We even got a few tomato plants. They look pretty rough right now, sort of like the abused refugees that they are, but I think they'll be all right in the end. With our own cucumber seeds germinated, some dill, and more basil ... we just need to plant a few more vegetables to be well on our way.

Visiting the Farr Farm

vinca

My sister-in-law and her husband have a greenhouse business in upstate New York. We visited recently and got to see their greenhouse in its early glory. They've got an amazing jump on things and I was thrilled to walk through up and down the warm and humid rows, looking at the flowers, herbs, vegetables and berries. We looked at the raspberries and strawberries they have in greenhouses separate from the vegetables and flowers and, while we were there, they were taking in loads of sand and topsoil to raise the ground level so it wouldn't be so wet. Soon they'll be planting their vegetable garden inside and from the looks of their cucumber plants in pots, they'll be eating fresh salad sometime in May. I love visiting their small farm, they've always got projects going on and the ambition of their plans never fails to encourage me to get home and work in the outdoors.

Seed Time

Last week Oliver and I planted some seeds to get them started indoors in hopes of getting a jump on the growing season. He's only two but he was pretty helpful with planting, covering, tamping and watering the seeds. I can't wait until the seedlings start to pop up and he can see them growing. I'm eager to see if he'll understand and to see if he's as fascinated as I am with their growth and progress each day.

Warm Weather

We just experienced some record temps for April - hitting 70 and 80 for a couple of days. It felt wonderful, but weird at the same time. In just a couple of days the change to the trees, grass and gardens was amazing. Of course, it can't last, but it's a sign of things to come and I for one cannot wait. Here's a picture my brother took that sums up the blue-sky, bud-bursting weather we've had.