Are We There Yet?

It's still too cold here to get into any serious gardening but Burt and Kib decided to see what they could find stashed in the basement. It's easy to get a little carried away when the dahlia tubers and lily bulbs go on display in February. They really can't be planted outside in our zone until June, which leaves about four months for them to get lost among the holiday decorations or totally forgotten about.

As usual, we're having a schizophrenic spring. It was in the 80's for a week and now it's snowing. That's okay, consistency is overrated - but what a difference a few days of summer makes! 

At least I managed to catch the magnolia before the flowers were transformed into blobs of wet kleenex. It's nice that spring is sort of here, no matter what it shows up looking like. 

For the last two years there has been a movement in our town to increase the dwindling number of pollinators by asking people not to mow their lawns during May and June. It really is the little things that make the biggest difference. Thanks to our eight foot tall hedge, we've been cheating and leaving our backyard to Mother Nature all summer long. Now, it seems to have finally made a difference! Under our crabapple tree, on this small patch of Lungwort (yes, that's actually its name) there were FOUR bumble bees working the blossoms  - the most I've seen in one place in years.  

Some daffodils also opened up during the heat wave, too. Then they were buried by a blizzard but when the sun came out, the snow melted into raindrops and it immediately looked like spring again.  It was still only 38° F. but so far they'e been oblivious to the daily swings between winter and summer. Hmmm, first the bees and then another life lesson from the daffodils this season?

  

Meanwhile, back in the basement Burt and Kibitz have found almost everything they were looking for. The dahlia's may not be able to survive outside for another month but they can get a head start indoors. Now if we can just remember to water them!

It appears that Ivy has found a few things to plant, too.

Just when we were beginning to think that growing our own micro greens was kind of a time consuming hassle and a little on the pricey side, Ivy picked up this package at the grocery store. 

Guess they're not such an inconvenient splurge after all, ha!

It's definitely way too soon to start gardening, considering the current situation but it's getting closer! You have to start sometime and pansies are really tough and like cold weather. I think. We'll find out. As for the herbs, they'll be okay in a window for a couple of weeks or until they're discovered by a curious cat. Maybe we should just eat them now - with those over-priced micro greens.

So how is your spring going?

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!