Our long winter has delayed spring in New Hampshire. Every gardener I know feels confined and itching to get outdoors to garden. In our yard, we have picked up sticks, raked a bit, pruned dead and damaged branches from the weight of snow, and transplanted a few shade plants, hosta, bleeding hearts, where they were once happy beneath pines, now gone. Folks are flocking to nurseries because they need to see color, to dream, to plan, and to buy pansies, pansies, pansies!
It is the New England Mud Season. And it is cold. And it is rainy. And windy. And we have coastal flooding. The temperature today hovered in the mid to upper 40’s, with 50’s in the forecast for the next 10 days, dropping to the high 30’s at night. But, in spite of the delay, the plants and animals know spring is here. Red maples are bearing their bright red blooms, branches of the willows have turned golden, spring peepers and wood frogs are singing a chorus in every ditch, osprey and great blue heron have returned, and our winter pine siskins and juncos have left us.
I donned my raincoat this afternoon, walked through a very soggy yard to take a few photos of my borders…. all new last season with plans to be pretty full before this season’s end.
The liriope muscari above has been trimmed, awaiting new growth, and tulips are making progress.
Last summer’s planters of sedum successfully wintered over in the garage and are happy to finally see the light of day.
It will be awhile before they open, but the rhodys and azaleas blooms are swelling and will be bursting into color later in the spring.
Crocus that we found blooming under two feet of snow, now must deal with another weather complication….
Oh, how thrilled the kitchen herbs are to be moved from a hot and dry kitchen window to the great outdoors.
And finally… the violas. Along with crocus, the violas are the only plant giving us tiny blooms of color in the garden. They are just waiting for better weather to be joined by more blooming plants and then the mulch.
It may seem that I am grumbling about the rain but I know how fortunate we are to have water. Between the rain and snow melt and lakes, reservoirs, ponds, rivers in New Hampshire, there is no immediate threat of water depletion as in several western states where the epic drought has caused crisis conditions…. a crisis that belongs to all of us in the end.
We’ve been listening to the woodcocks everyday, another spring sound in New England. Some of the early woodland plants are blooming and we see sure signs of all the plants to come, but the ground is still very soggy. You must be getting the rain over there this week as well? It’s not snow…….so I guess we’ll just wait for a sunny day to dry things out again! Enjoy your day!
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Oh, do I love that little woodcock song that I often heard in Virginia. I’ll have to walk out after dinner tonight and listen for one here….one of the cutest little birds! Hope to venture up to your nursery this spring. I do like everything I see online.
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Lovely! Every tiny bud and flower is cherished this time of year!!
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Every time I speak to my siblings in Virginia, I hear about all that is in bloom there. So it’s decided. I’m flying down next week to see for myself. Maybe there will be more blooming here when I return…
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Patience is stretched pretty thin this Spring. I would fly south in a “New York” minute given the chance. Enjoy!
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I’ve done the same chores you mentioned and it is always amazing to watch the perennials poke through and start the process all over again. God bless perennials, the work horses of the garden. I saw my first viola last week, my pulse quickened. And, you are so right about the rain and the water situation of some of the other states. Maybe I’ll get my quilt done I’m working on while I wait for the weather to clear. 🙂
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It is amazing how a little viola can excite us so. But I fully understand. Hope you finish the quilt before your trip!
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I wish we would get rain. One big storm, now not much of anything but sun. We are getting the cold front too. Last week was mid 70’s. Chores were done then. Much is blooming now that the weather warmed, I love spring bulbs.
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I will keep my fingers crossed for you. It’s so nice when Mother Nature cooperates with us in the garden!
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Yes, I too ran out to buy pansies by the score as soon as it could be done. Who can resist them?
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