The first hint of spring is in the bed on the south side of my house where the sun is best and the heat from our basement warms the soil early. It usually begins in April sometime with the crocus first to bloom, usually through the straw mulch. This year, we had an early warming spell, and all the plants in that bed have shot up much earlier than usual. Here is the bed still covered in straw mulch on St. Patrick's Day.
Not only had the crocus begun to bloom through the mulch, but the tulips and jonquils were laying over underneath, so I decided to uncover them... always a chancey thing to do in our neck of the woods. You never know when winter will return in early spring.
You can see that the poor jonquils were really in need of some light!
The Autumn Joy sedum is forming little rosettes.
And the columbine.
Oriental poppies are beginning to leaf.
What a wonderful day for all my green children to come back to life in the sunshine. Happy Easter, everyone!
Yippeeee! Spring! Now how the heck did I miss that you live in a beautiful log cabin?
Little green things sure do make gardeners happy. I should get out and take pictures of my plants pushing up through their mulch, some are already several inches high, others just peeking at me. A few daffodills are blooming, and crocus of course, violets in and out of the flower beds, and the forsythia is just getting a good start, yellow flowers in the rain. Usually we still have snowbanks but this year it has been pretty dry so things woke up early. Weez, when we moved from Alaska it was May 5 and still quite wintery, so I can emagine how thrilled (and a bit cautious) you are to have signs of spring so early.
Yes, you are right, Mary, I am always dubious when things get started this early. When I first moved to Alaska 30 years ago, spring seemed to come later, but these days, we are just about melted off by early May... at least in Seward. Alaska is such a big state that there are lots of eco-climates at work. Ceeads who lives down the road from me is planning to plant radishes and peas ths week, and my ground is still quite frozen and snow covered in most places.
I think it's a great idea to take pictures of your plants coming up. They make great additons to the PF. Folks are always asking what these plants look like in the spring, so that's good info.
Hi, Badseed. Yes, we live in a log cabin. I love it. Wanted one for as long as I can remember. Here it is from the back side. You can see the south bed on the right of the picture.
Wonderful photos, happy spring, how can you be only one week behind me? so far away up north.? the world is a wonder place. ~Blooms
Hi, Blooms. Ordinarily, I wouldn't be seeing spring flowers for another 3 weeks to a month! This has been a crazy season. An early warm spell woke up all my green friends, and now I can't convince them to go back to sleep! LOL!
Some day I want a cabin like yours, Carol. That is so nice! I enjoyed your photos tonight. We're just starting to clear away the debris from last year's gardens now that we've got some warm days. Howie spent a couple hours clearing the mess of pots, tools and construction debris that was piled at the hidden side of our house. Tomorrow I'm going to clear plant debris and prune. In the fall, we were doing the kitchen renovation and we didn't to squat outside in the yard. We've got to make up for some lost time!
I envy you your early start, GW. I cleared the mulch from the south bed, and now I am covering it with row cover every night. The temp dropped to 21F last night, so I am trying to give it a bit of protection. My beds have been evolutionary. Many were put together with concrete, rocks, and timbers I scavenged from the local dump. In the last couple years, I've been taking a long look at some of them an contemplating change. Some have become wild again, and change will require disturbing mosses and native plants that have crept in. I've got to find a way to compromise the nature and cultivars.
We're still covering the South Bed every night, but with the warm sun each day, my plants are shooting up! The crocus are really beautiful... just had to add a few more pics.
The Primula polyantha is blooming almost as soon as it breaks ground!
I planted some pure white last fall... really beautiful.
Here's a view of the length of the bed.
Carol, sure looks like spring is springing in your garden, at least on the south side. Beautiful clump of crocus DonnaS
I really like that shot of the crocus, too. Tomorrow I am going to start clearing out our front yard's beds. The back looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!
That does it!
If I'm destined to live in cold country, I'm moving to Alaska. I don't have anything that's out of the ground more than 1/4 inch, and definitely nothing offering to bloom. :(
Move over Weezie, here I come! LOL Your flowers and beds are looking real good already.
Your crocus are very beautiful.
Kaleem
Thanks, everyone! The south bed stayed under row cover all day today, but I can see some jonquil buds appearing. This is all so early that I am nervous about it!
It's 3 weeks later, and what a difference! We've enjoyed some lovely weather, so most of the perennials are up and running.
The Autumn Joy sedum is forming a lovely clump of rosettes.
The clematis is forming some new leaves on the old vine.
Most of the crocus have come and gone, except these golden ones.
The Primula polyantha is getting a good start.
The light pink arabis is starting to bloom.
the daffodils have recovered from being crushed under the mulch.
The bleeding heart is just right for digging & dividing: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/504106/
Weezi, your garden is incredible for this time of year. I especially like your daffodil - I can almost feel the texture, its so pretty. The evidence of your green thumb is everywhere in your pictures, even from early April. You blame it on the amazing weather you're getting, I say its your gift.
While our weather hasn't been nice (12C here today), we've been getting lots of rain in the past week, after almost none for a few weeks. In my south bed, I still only have the Oriental Poppies up - the forget-me-nots have forgotten to come back, and the peony poppies I broadcasted have stayed hidden.
In my north bed, Japanese Iris have just started poking their little shoots up, one out of three columbine is just peeking its curly little heads up, and there are definite buds on the dwarf Korean Lilac. My clematis is laughing at me, my hellebore thinks its February, the sedum is invisible, even the rudebeckia is staying under the surface. Not one thing is up under the tree, not even the Joe Pye Weed or Cat Mint.
So, while there is life in South-Central Ontario, there's just not as much as three entire zones further north!! LOL
Keep up the great work and keep showing us the incredible fruits of your labour Weezi. With your encouragement, one day we can all hope to have a gift such as yours.
Christine in Soggy, Backward Ontario
Thanks for the kind words, Christine. We've enjoyed a very early spring this year. There was very little snow to melt off. We seemed to have escaped the usual heavy snows of March & April. We had a soggy stretch last week, but the skies have opened up and it's beautiful again.
I've got so many little potted 2nd year plants stuck here and there among the trees, that I don't know if I'll ever get them all uncovered counted. Like you, I wait to see what will pop up and what will not.
Oh my goodness, your stuff is looking fabulous! I heard that you've had a mild spring and it looks like it's paying off, good for you!
Yes, it certainly has been a mild spring. Today, we were rushing to get the fans going in the greenhouse. The outdoor temperature was in the 70's, unseasonably warm for April. We would ordinarily still have snow in the yard. Here's my other Primula polyantha.
Looking wonderful Weezie!
If you are in zone 3, I must be in zone 1, or maybe zone -1 ;)
I've got some things starting to come up, and some tulips were blooming until last night. I don't know how cold it got, but the tulips were laying over in the flowerbed this morning. Tonight they had perked up a bit, but it's freezing hard again tonight.
The weather sure has been crazy lately. There are only two or three patches of snow on the property, and they will be gone in a couple days. Technically, we could still have a hard freeze, but it really doesn't look like it will happen... famous last words! LOL!
