Bring on the Spring!

The warm days draw me outside, and now the new knee is cooperating.  On Sunday, I planted some broccoli, raked and mulched leaves and pulled weeds for several hours.  It’s been so long since I was able to get out and work, I can hardly tell that I had done anything out there.

However, the daffodils and hellebores are in full bloom so just getting out to admire them is enough to satisfy my gardening soul for a while.  The hellebores are as pretty as I’ve ever seen them, despite the late freeze.  They have been blooming for a couple of weeks, and I’ll enjoy them for several more weeks before they start to die back.

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The wood hyaciinths, corcus, and hybrid hyacinths have all opened.  Nothing can compare to the smell of the native wood hyacinths, and several of the daffodil varieties have a wonderful fragrance.  The snowbells have almost completed their bloom cycle, with plump green seed pods forming now

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Some of the early blooming trees and shrubs are looking great right now.  The daphne with its lemon Pledge fragrance and the heady aroma of the edgworthia fill the air.  The smell pervades the yard.  Just follow your nose and you’ll find the flowers!  Scott’s peach tree is in full bloom, and the bees are loving it.  The little fellow in the picture is loaded down with pollen, ready to return to the bee hive.  I’m sure everyone has noticed the red buds forming on the red maple trees.  They are especially noticeable along the bypass near Blandenburg Road.  I love cutting branches of these maples to put into arrangements of daffodils and hellebores.

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The fall-planted rutabagas and collards are ready to harvest.   I’ve enjoyed fresh rutabagas and collards with cornbread, cole slaw, and corn several times during the past week.

The broccoli, more collards, lettuce, and cabbage plants are soon to be in the ground.  In a couple of weeks I’ll start some seeds for the summer garden in the basement under the grow lights.   Nothing tastes better than fresh veggies straight from the garden.

 

 

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