SPRING HAS FINALLY SPRUNG

For all of us who have been waiting for the world around us to turn green, Cheers! It is happening right before our very eyes. Having little to sustain me but a light box, and occasional red cardinal against the white snow and house plants through the long winter, it is always an exciting time as the days grow longer and the sun grows stronger.




Some parts of New England are seeing blossoms. How wonderful not to look onto blackened snow from vehicle exhausts. The sun has to break through leaves instead of bare branches. Now the crocuses are past. The lovely rare botanical blue shows up in some tiny wood hyacinths.







Tulips are beginning to come out. It was a lovely surprise to see some red ones on the side of the house. Chipmunks usually eat all bulbs that aren't yellow, so usually only my yellow tulips and jonquils survive from year to year.




Remiss for the past couple of years in my pruning tasks, a Rhodora has grown way up past the windows...not something I can tolerate. I had pruned this bush down to 24 inches
seven years ago.
Now I will wait for it to stop blossoming and give it a proper haircut again!


The blossoms are far too beautiful for me to disrupt anything until they have finished their showing for the year.













Another sign that spring is really here also will require a thorough pruning, long overdue. However, it, too, must wait until all the blossoms are gone. This andromeda japonica is a version of a japonica with a larger blossom which is often called the Lily-of-the-Valley bush.

These are but a few of the signs of spring in the yard. They are enough to lift my spirits though not quite enough to move my body too far! Before one can realize what has happened, we will be looking at the fall foliage, I fear.