An Open Letter to Spring

Dear Spring,

     It has come to our attention that you have not arrived at the appointed time this year. While promptness is not mandatory, tardiness is frowned upon here in southeastern Pennsylvania, and probably throughout the rest of the United States, not to mention the World.

     That said, we can certainly relate to the need to sleep in. Continuing a long hibernation is also something we can empathize with. But here's our problem – Old Man Winter is still with us, albeit on life support. He wouldn't want to live like this, and knowing that, we must pull the plug sooner rather than later. As his last wish, he requested blooms from the forsythia and daffodils, who reluctantly complied, but there it will end. We will remain in this gray, chilly limbo until you've taken Old Man Winter's place – your rightful place – in the progression of Seasons.

    

     So, in conclusion, WAKE UP !!!

Sincerely,

Zone 6

(Philadelphia Region)

April Fool!!

It's snowing. For real.
NOT funny.

It's April that comes in like a lion
and goes out like a lamb, not
March. Blame global warming.

Longwood Gardens

It was the perfect day to get outside and roam around Longwood Gardens with a friend. There weren't many flowers blooming outside yet, but the structures and topiaries and dry fountains are splendid regardless of the time of year. This weekend they had an orchid show. Orchids are odd creatures. The flowers come in a spectacular array of shapes and colors. Mostly, I think they look like they come from another planet. I wrote an article on orchids a few years ago. Click on the "You Can Grow Orchids" page to read it. Very informative if I do say so myself. :-)



These baby pink tulips look so soft blooming
together, I'd like to use them as a pillow.



I love unique plants like this huge fern.
The new leaves unfurl from the inside.


 My hibernating heart was leaping with joy at the cacophony of colors in the huge conservatory, but the best part was the indoor fountain area. The photos I took didn't do it justice – next time I'll leave the camera behind and play in the water with the kids. One round fountain had water randomly shooting up and plopping back down, another was a painting that if you looked at it long enough you'd see an arch of water shoot out from either side, and my favorite had thin streams of water falling into a trough. It looked like a bead curtain made of water. I refrained from sticking my hand through the watery curtain.

The First Official Day of Spring

It's chilly and rainy again. I don't expect flip-flop weather for another six or eight weeks, but I did wear a pair on Saturday, when it reached 70 degrees. Such a tease.

Yesterday was beautiful too, cool and sunny, so I turned on the outside water and whipped up some poison for the weeds that are invading the planting beds. I use twice as much Roundup concentrate as suggested on the bottle, in a five-gallon watering can that I use only for poison. I had fun drawing skull-and-crossbones all over it with permanent marker. Although I usually go organic, I just love watching clumps of grass and dandelions turn yellow and shrivel.

Another Tiny Step

Yesterday's weather was lovely, so I went outside and took a few pictures to start my very own collection of garden photos. They tell me that in this digital age, writers must also be photographers. I have 3 digital cameras (good, better, best) so I have no excuses. I'll learn as I go along. Same with blogging, tweeting and facebooking. They call this the writer's "platform". I may never "tweet", but I'll continue taking baby steps towards said platform. Now I'm ankle-deep in the 21st century.

Not Quite Spring

Today I am tentatively dipping my toes into the twenty-first century. I am beginning a gardening blog.

It is the first dry, warmish day in awhile so I gathered the seed packets I chose from the many I received this year (one nice perk of being a member of the Garden Writers Association) and brought them and a soup spoon outside.

I have four EarthBoxes nestled in the sun beside the deck stairs. I stirred up the moist, cool soil and thought of Martha Stewart saying that good soil should look like chocolate cake. This soil does, it has been in the EarthBoxes for years, and I stir it up every spring. It's perfect for planting seeds. I chose Tyee spinach and Vulcan red lettuce from Sakata Seeds, and Wine Country Mesclun, one of Renee's Garden's Signature Salads.