Ahh, your today was my yesterday. It's wonderful to be able to get out and do some spring chores in the garden without freezing your nose and fingers.

If it makes you feel any better, I only do a semi-clean up in the fall, leaving certain things for winter interest and some seed-bearing stalks for the birds. But yesterday was the day to clear all that out, before the emerging foliage grows any larger and gets severed by the pruning shears! And pulling out the dead oak leaves that had become lodged in the base of the shrubs ... brown is a nice color, but there comes a day in spring when I've had quite enough of it.

What's coming up: Heaths have been in bloom since late December, followed quickly by the snowdrops. Hellebores are in bloom. Flower buds on primrose, quince, forsythia and bridal wreath spirea look like they're getting ready to pop soon. Earliest daffodils in a sheltered area may bloom tomorrow. I see shoots of tulips, allium, phlox, daylily, monarda, coreopsis, nepeta, iris, aster, daisy. Iris leaves are growing. There are new leaves on Montauk daisy, cinquefoil & hardy geranium, leaves just opening on roses & clematis, leaves on the tree peony look like they're getting ready to unfurl.

Aren't the snowdrops wonderful? Small, but hardy. Mine came up early this year - early January and have taken everything Mother Nature has thrown at them. They multiply very well and this is one bulb that is best moved while "in the green" - after the flowers have died but before the foliage has yellowed.

Haven't planted any seeds yet, except for the wintersown ones, which are still asleep, as far as I can tell. Can't wait to get those tomato seeds started!

Nothing right now until Saturday. Most of the spring bulbs have been blooming for over a month now. The daffs are still coming up here and there, but the crocuses are almost finished. I have some irises that I can't find. Or had. The perennials are starting to come alive too.

I need to get out Saturday and mow the yard. I'm going to pick up some wheat straw to lay down on the veggie patches. I need another load of mulch from the landfill to finish everything, but with the rain today, I doubt that will happen. I may try to sow the rest of my seeds, but I'm nervous about starting cukes this early. We still have 3 more weeks of potential frost and by then, they'll be huge. I've got gourds and pumpkins I plan to start right in garden. I need to repot my tomatoes one last time and get the cherry tomatoes divided into individual containers. I've neglected them and more than a few are dead from damp/drying out.

I've got annuals to wintersow and acorns to pick up. I'm just going to try raking that area. Some cat has dug up a whole batch of wintersown nicotiana so that's gone now. I can use tools rather than do it by hand.

And of course, there's always more brush and privet to remove from the gully.

-agardenstateofmind, so jealous about your heath! I love heaths and heathers but have never been able to get them to grow. Yes, snowdrops are wonderful. I think mine will look better in years to come, as they mature and bulk up on nutrients. I bought mine as little bulbs from Brecks. They were very small and somewhat shriveled. What is funny about the one blooming in my yard now is that the flower is so small, and the stem barely rises a 1/4 of an inch above the ground! Maybe next year they will be to a normal size.

Today I also dug out some of the 'Firecracker' Loostrife. It wasn't up last week. Boy, had it spread over the winter! But I was glad to get to dig something again! Ah, the feel of dirt! Spring is well worth the hard winter.
CMK

I wait until danger of hard freezes is almost past before I do a lot of cleanup. I did risk the hummingbird bed a few days ago but left the debris near so I could toss it back if I need to.

I am seeing a lot of perennials up now and a happy surprise a new yellow aquilegia has come up. I tossed a few seeds on the ground and one came up. I have had bad luck trying to grow them from seeds inside. I don't see the mother plant though.

As soon as I followed Annette's advice about the hellebore and cleaned it off, new leaves popped out! Thank you for the info about caring for them. In that same little narrow space, I risked some lemon yellow and white tulips with Jack Frost brunnera and they are all up. It has a concrete base so the moles couldn't munch on the bulbs.
I hope the tulips bloom at the same time as the brunnera.

Seeds up are: snaps (ready to plant out), purple foxgloves, red salvias (seeds saved from Park's tall one), a pot of red somniferum poppies, a flat of onion, cabbages, broccoli, and a variety of lettuces.

I dug into the pile of leaves next to the chicken house where I overwintered some things in a wire cage. The blueberries made it fine and Alexander loosestrife and some others either dead or it is too early for them. I will soon know since I set them out in the sun.

In bloom are daffs, forsythia, quince just beginning to show color, spirea prunifolia, and only a few clumps of grape hyacinths.

Daylilies are up about 6 inches, iris are all green and starting to grow. Roses are beginning to green up and I need to prune them!

Peaches and plums are blooming. One pear is going to bloom shortly. The apricot blooms are finished (hope I get a few that escaped the freezes).

Strawberries are still under straw.

I have been chopping and tilling away at the winter annual weeds of henbit and dandelions and still have a way to go on that endless project.

The redbud is just showing purple; nothing on the dogwoods yet....too early.

This is a good time of year for me. I like it when it doesn't get too hot to work out in the sun.

I will be starting more seeds in a few days both ornamentals and garden things. I will keep them under lights inside.

I enjoy hearing what everyone is up to across the country.

I've got blooms! Snowdrops and crocus - spring is officially here if I've got blooms.

Everything else is still dormant and I'm busy trying to clean up what should have been done last fall.

Yesterday, I took my trusty little bow saw and cut up three big pine limbs that had fallen from my neighbor's tree onto my property last month, getting them off some bunches of daffodils. I just added the whole mess to my ever growing brush pile- or mountain I should say.

It's too early for those daffs in the orchard, but the ones around the rock garden have tightly closed buds already. I only removed a little mulch from around the base of some plants, as the temps are already getting cold again here.

Well, this early spring/late winter has been a bit disappointing...hard freezes zapped all the early daffodils, even my lent lilies (which I had on record surviving just fine to 19 degrees...I think it officially got down to 14 degrees). It also zapped the Edgeworthia, so no wonderful fragrance this year.

We had one glorious weekend, where I was able to pitch a trailer load of lead mold, and then it turned cold and rainy again. The mid-season daffodils are just now starting to open and lots of perennials are popping up. DH, now officially retired, just planted the Spring veggie garden (lettuces, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, swiss chard, etc).

Here in the frozen tundra of NW Minnesota, we are still waiting for the snow to melt. What bare soil we do have is a mucky muddy mess, and I don't dare walk on it. Hopefully in another 2 - 3 weeks I can at least start some clean up.

Jenny P

All bulbs have emerged. Even the ones I shoved in the ground and barely covered one day last fall. (It was freezing and I was tired of digging.) Trees have buds.

Made calls about getting the top of one tree lobbed off as it is shading my garden. MAN! Those tree cutters must make out well. Anywhere from $450 - $675 was the estimate. And that's for just letting the tree top lay where it falls. (In the forest behind my garden.)

The garden centers are all spruced up and Kmart has even put out its planting shelves ready for the pansies.

By the way, Kmart might not be the first place people would think of flower shopping, but I have gotten some really nice bushes and shrubs there. I always buy my broom plants at Kmart and last year I got some nice blueberries and hydrangea as well. Way less expensive than Home Depot and about a fourth as much as a nursery.

-scully, lol! I know what you mean about the tree cutters! Last year I had to have a large apple tree taken out. One guy came out to give an estimate. He was going to charge $250 to take it out! AND he would sub-contract the stump grinding job! It was funny how the guy (a big body-builder type) sighed and said it would be a difficult job to cut it down. I did not go with his company.
So what did I do? That weekend I, a 5ft. 3in. woman took down a 13ft.+ apple tree. I pruned it down on Sat. and axed the trunk down on Sun. I did not get the stump out, but that was not a biggie.
CMK

CMK - sometimes a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Hooray for you! I know the feeling.

Spring's a little late this year.

That reminds me of the old Frank Loesser song.

Spring will be a little late this year
A little late arriving
In my lonely world over here
For you have left me
And where is our April of old
Yes you have left me
And winter continues cold

Libby

The dogwoods are budding - finally some green! All the daffs are putting on a show, the hyacinths are still pretty. The redbuds are gorgeous. I noticed the baptisia coming back - their second year for me... I can't wait! Coreopsis, salvia, and hydrangeas are showing green. My wintersown babies are ready to be planted out - at least the perennials. The azaleas are starting to bloom - ah spring! This is my favorite time of year. I get to see what made it and what needs a new home. I'm not wishing time away anymore. I'd just love to stay here, in springtime. Nik

Despite the crazy hot-cold-hot-cold weather we have been getting this year, my gardens are filled with a flurry of color and new life that I haven't seen in years!

The late tulips are beginning to bloom now and the Grape Muscari Hyacinths are in full bloom. The early peach trees blooms are waning now but it looks like they made it through that last cold blast and I may get some fruit, God willing we don't get a really nasty Blue Northern late in Spring.
The other peach trees are now blooming as are the two pear trees and the two plum trees. The Weeping willow is blooming and the bees are loving it. The native American plums (Sand Plums) are in full bloom too and they smell so sweet. Millions of honeybees are filing them daily and there is a low humming sound throughout my gardens. I am delighted by their presence and in such numbers!
The shrub cherries are about to burst into bloom.
I have white blooming old-fashioned Bridle's Wreath all over the place, Coral pink Flowering Quinces and yellow Forstythias (two varieties), which have been blooming non-stop for the past two weeks or more.
My little Dogwood hasn't bloomed in four years, but she has buds, so barring the already mentioned worst case scenario, I might see her bloom again.
Pink Flowering Almonds are in full glory, and the Gold Flame Spireas are making new leaves in their Spring colors, as is the Red-Tipped Photenia. A few late Daffodils are dotting the new rose garden.
The irises are growing fast and yesterday I saw the noses of two giant Alliums poking up out of the soil. Tiger Lilies are up and Asiatic lilies, too, and boy did they make babies! They're everywhere! They're everywhere! (Hehehe - anybody else remember that from the late 60s?)
My Teas roses are leafing out and the Shrub and Buck roses are flushing out with their new leaf growth (I just love them so much). I have four OGR's that are just leafing out and preparing for their Spring blooms, including my yellow Lady Banks rose, who normally blooms in early May.
My Jane Magnolia has been blooming for over a month. She got a few buds nipped with that last cold snap, but has recovered and continues to bloom. Her big, lilac pink blooms smell like lemon tree blossoms and peony blooms combined, and when the sun is hot, her fragrance fills my whole back yard. Heavenly. I can't even imagine how wonderful it will be when she reaches full maturity of 25 ft. or more. She is only 5.5 feet tall now!
The Old-fashioned purple lilacs are leafing and their buds are swelling, and this year, my one little white lilac will bloom. She finally starting growing above the ground this year after putting three years into below ground growth. That will be really special.
I sowed four kinds of Tomato seeds and they are up with at least one set of true leaves. I still have two other varieties to plant that are must haves in my garden every year. (where am I going to put all those tomato plants?)
I also have Hot Hungarian yellow wax Peppers up and growing and some of those cute little cucumbers that make pickle-sized snacking cukes.
OH! and I have never grown Lavender from seeds before, other than the Hidcote's self-seeding, but I sowed Munstead Lavender seeds and there are two that just came up in the pot. That is so exciting!
Some sweet little sally on this forum from NC gave me some purple Beautyberry seeds and they FINALLY came up!!! I about gave up on them. Let's hope I can keep them alive!
There are lots of flats with seedlings coming up - petunias, pansies, stocks, tall snapdragons, red nicotiana, balsam, and many more. I only have so much room in my little make-shift greenhouse for flats and pots since I must overwinter all my big tropicals in there, so will start more seeds in there when those get moved outside to harden off.
Lots of perennials coming up or already up and thinking about beginning to bloom. Peonies up everywhere and two varieties of the hostas I have left that voles didn't get.
Blackberry lilies (Balamcanda chinesis) aka Leopard Lily are up (orange with freckles) and several of the three varieties of Columbines (I rescued from the 75% off rack last year).
My English Primroses are blooming - two short and three tall varieties. Supposed by as annuals here, but mine keep coming back year after year.
I sowed Joe Pye weed this winter and they are up now. Such tiny seedlings.
Perennial Salvias are up.
The two Bleeding Hearts are blooming already. Pretty pink & white old-fashioned girls.
Garden Phlox are up and all the daylilies. Canna noses are poking up out of the soil. Hollyhocks coming up everywhere and the established ones are getting new leaves and growing fast.
My Great-grandmother's Species white roses are really leafed out and preparing to bloom. They only bloom in spring, but have the most delicious fragrance - kind of a peppery, old-rose smell. You have to have room for them as they a rampant growers and can reach 20 feet high and wide, but they are covered in dainty white blossoms, and the spectacular fragrance that fills the whole yard. Great for growing up into trees. Mine are growing on the back side of the double garage-shed which sits off separate from the house.
My one (unknown, supposed to have been a Nellie Mosier) Clematis is leafing out and making flower buds. That is one tough plant.
There is much more. Things coming up everywhere!
Lady bugs are out and about doing their job, bless their little spotted wings! I've even seen a few butterflies darting here and there the past two weeks. Other insects out and about, too. (drat!) Earthworms moving up toward the surface in the soil. Peeper frogs hopping about in the garden and I saw a purple tailed lizard two days ago. Really, really weird this early.
What a sight to see all this life all of a sudden!
Wish my new camera wasn't on the blink (grrr). I would take pictures to share.

~Annie

Nik, I know the feeling. All too suddenly, it's going to get hot hot hot. And humid. There will be mornings when the humidity is near 100% with not a cloud in the sky. It won't matter if it's 80 degrees or 100, you won't be able to walk outside without breaking a mean sweat. But in spring, the air is crisp and cool in the mornings. By midafternoon, the long sleeves come off and it's time to break out the lawnmower.

Well, I don't need Spring at my place now. All I had to do is read Annie's post!

Snowdrops, crocus, hellebore and one lonely iris reticulata, that's about it here.

Annette

cmk I am like you also. I do nominal winter cleanup...rake the heaviest of the leaves and throw away only foliage from fleshy water plants like impatience and begonias. They tend to turn to mush once it freezes and are plain nasty.... Everything else stays in place. MY grandma taught me and I follow it still..that the dead foliage falling over the crown of the plants actually gives it a bit of frost protection in the spring. I only pull off really offensive dead vegatation. The rest I do in spring and for mostly the same reasons as you. Here is also seems to sneak up on you. It will be decently warm..then blam..frost...then sleety freezing junk and winter has arrived! We tend to get early early warm spells and then after everything begins growth..many killing freezes that sets them back or kills. Leaving the foliage as a "tent" seems to give a bit of protection to the tender shoots when that happens.

Sometimes tho..that is hard to resist...like this week..we had ONE 75 degree day amoungst mostly 40's. So I cleaned up harmless winter mess where I could...leaves and dead growth from the pots all over..leaves where they had blown in the heaviest of piles. Winter litter people had sent our way via wind. I also made sure all spring bulbs were not buried..cleaned around them. Picked up winter sticks...thatched "some" of the grass. Brought some pussy willow sticks in the house for a vase. All that took about 6 hours... :) And I barely made a dent.. :) I cant wait for some more warm weather to be a bit braver... :) I did buy three flats of pansys :) I love those darn things...and they are cold hardy...

-Keesha, that is exactly what I do. I cut the plants down in the fall, some of them anyway, and pile up their stems to cover them for winter. Lol, I have always called it a "tepee".
I have a similar half-hearted system for dead-heading. If it is a plant that isn't a terrible re-seeder or is something I would like more of I just tuck the clipped tops behind the plant. Hey, it decomposes and I don't have to make more room in the compost/trash for it!
CMK

Spring is in full swing here. The quince tree has been covered in blooms for a couple of weeks now and little quince fruits are starting to develop. So cute :-) In bloom this week: ceanothus (the bees are going bezerk with it), lavender, New Zealand tea tree, LILACS, wisteria, jasmine, serviceberry, irises, pansies, begonias, azaleas and the Judas tree (looking glorious at the moment). In the rose department, Scabrosa, a rugosa, opened her first blooms today. The old tea Lady Hillingdon, climbing in the driveway, has put up an amazing amount of foliage and is boasting her first egg yolk blooms. Another old tea, Monsieur Tillier, also opened its deep fuchsia flowers today.

The garden is smelling heavenly due to the wisteria and jasmine combined. Seeds are going along nicely. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I may succeed with love-in-a-mist for the first time. I also have other seeds going - snapdragons, heliotropium and stocks.

I have been hauling rocks like crazy to redo a part of the back garden. It's physically hard labour, but it saves me the cost of a gym ;-) Gold finches are regular visitors again (last year they nested on the Maigold rose above our front door), as are the usual blackbirds, sparrows and other birds I can't identify. Today I saw a hoopoe here for the first time. They are regular visitors to the Algarve region, but I had never seen one here, and that was exciting. Yep, Spring is definitely here!

Eduarda

Getting rid of bermuda grass. If you have ever done it - you know it is a job and a half! Trees are growing up, and the sun does not sooth the grass as it used to, so the grass looks brown, unattractive, and worse of all - needs cutting. That's $50 monthly savings :)
Will replace it with groundcovers that will get admiration, pleasure to walk on and no mowing. Yay to that!

Covering pea pebbles with soil (what was I thinking then?) Well, at the time I liked the idea of pea pebbles. Tastes change.

Planning on working the naked hill where junipers once lived. Finally removed their stumps, and was very happy about this. The area is full of possibilities. What will I do there? Ideas come as a flood. My DH suggest planting veggy garden there. Maybe...

Spring is such an exciting time of the year! I really have a hard time sleeping at night!

~Natalie

Annie - the mental picture you created for me was enough!! I cannot wait for my garden to mirror yours!!!

I got out raking today. Though I raked up the leaves in the Fall, I now must rake the gravel from my gravel road out!!! I have retired my old metal rake, for a new 30" plastic one. Very easy to use!! I got the short bit of the frontage done. A little bit of the front yard. Lots more gravel to go. I always wanted to live on a gravel road, and am now seeing the downsides. Lots of little things coming up - daff noses, some of the perennials are showing greening, and I am resisting the temptation to uncover them. My chives are up about 1" now, some of the garlic is showing signs of life.
I know that this isn't much, but here, it is huge. It was in the high 40's today, and I think I sunburned my face!!!

Nancy.

Three of the Byzantine Glad bulbs I planted last fall are up. Greenish/blue foliage with a bit of a vein - this is my first experience with these and although I'm disappointed all five didn't make it I can't wait to see how this flower does in my garden.

Cutting the grass for the first time this year today. I need to edge and mow everything. The lawnmower was in the shop so it's good to have it back.

I also got many of my annuals sown in cups and put into the hoophouse with the tomatoes and other overwintered plants. They'll stay there now until I plant them out in 3 weeks.

{{gwi:333269}}

token,

That hoophouse is absolutely AWESOME!
I think I could even build one!

I had a cold frame for years until the wood rotted and I loved it. Never had to harden anything off - no heater needed or lights. I used old storm windows for the doors. attached hinges on the frame. I loved it.

But your hoophouse is ten times better. Nothing to rot and no hammer needed. Yahoo!

~Annie

Annie, the base is pressure treated wood. 8' x 5'. These pieces were left over from the side porch when I rebuilt it. I had it, I used it. I staple the plastic to that. The hoops are 9' long 3/4" pvc pipe. I hammered rebar into the ground and slipped the ends down over that. Even without the wood, it can be put up and taken down in a few minutes. I use regular builder's plastic (6mil) for the cover. A white bedsheet that was ruined in the basement when a pipe burst is my shade cloth. I love this thing. Once everything has germinated and the threat of frost is gone, I'll pull everything apart and store it inside for the summer. I'll add some leaf mulch to the compacted dirt, till it a bit, and plant my corn, cucumbers, and beans in this bed. It gets the most sun of any spot in the yard.

I did the same thing with one of my raised beds hammered pieces of rebar in and used pvc pipe, removing the plastic and pvc pipe at a later date when it was a little warmer.
Rebar is a GOOD thing, has many uses :o).

Annette

Spring is in full swing here too. Daf'sand many spring bulbs are finished. Azaleas are blooming like crazy as are the dogwoods, red buds, pear trees. In my garden roses are putting on new growth, the trees are just starting to leaf out the azaleas are blooming. The hydrangeas are putting out tons of new growth. The daylilies, and pretty all the perennials are greening up nicely and some seeds I direct sowed are sprouting. My knockouts have lots of buds too! I love spring but their is one thing happening right now that drives me crazy! The pine trees pollen is covering everything with a nice yellow film. If I open the windows I've got to wipe everything down.

I love that hoophouse too! I told my husband I would like to build something like that. Maybe for next year.~Meghan

Meghan, it was the best $20 I ever spent for the garden. The pvc pipe and rebar is all I had to buy.

Did you know that Lowe's is carrying the yellow knockouts this year. Others should have them too. They start out really dark yellow and turn a creamy color as the bloom fades. They even have a slight fragrance.

Well it's definitely busting out all over in my garden now. The crocus and snowdrops are long over and the early daffodils are finishing too, especially those which have been chewed by slugs. I have been on a torch light slug hunt 4 nights running now and there are still hundreds of the slimy beasts writhing over the juicy bulb foliage and flowers. And please don't suggest coffee, eggshells or anything else - nothing works in our climate except killing them outright. Many of my clumps of daffs are permeated with coffee where I empty the grounds from the pot each day but the slugs seem to love the stuff.

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring garden

Flora I'm in love with your garden, I wish I had flagstone like yours. is that Polemonium Red Start I saw in your slideshow? I have this one blooming too, it's one of the earliest to flower here. It doesn't matter what kind of winter is thrown at it, tough as nails these plants are.

Annette

Let's see...not much blooming, just some snowdrops so far. I do have a bunch of grape hyacinths poking up, and the very tips of my new daffodils. I actually moved about half of the grape hyacinths on Saturday - a bunch got frost-heaved, and they were in the middle of my purple heuchera, so it looked a bit odd. I'm figuring they are pretty hardy types of bulbs, so they should be ok being moved right now (and if not, well, not a huge loss.)

I've been gradually cutting down dead stuff - I did the lambs ears a while back because they had turned into a big pile of mush after being buried in snow. On Saturday I cut back the achillea and the Autumn Joy sedum, because I was seeing new growth.

I only got my seeds last week, and only had time to start them this past Tuesday, eeks. (The inside ones, that is.) I also started a bunch of lettuce and some bunching onions on Saturday, outside. I need to get a bunch of compost so I can finish the rest of my new lasagna beds, and plant the rest of the early veggies! I did turn my compost for the first time since fall, and grabbed a few shovel-fuls from the bottom, but I need way more than that!

Hi Annette - no that's not Polemonium. It's Pulmonaria rubra. Also as tough as nails and fairly slug-proof! I hope that the view of the compost bin will persuade people that you can make compost in the tiniest of plots. That one was emptied in early February and provided enough material to mulch most of the garden before too many plants had come up.

-flora, I have gone on a couple of midnight hunting parties myself! There was one year the slug situation was so bad that they were crawling up the screens on the windows! Ick! I was out there with a flashlight and old butcher knife. Thankfully none of the neighbors called the cops or funny farm. I know I would be disturbed if I saw someone skulking about the hostas with a cleaver.
CMK

Flora, oops got my names mixed up, not hard these days unfortunately. I meant Pulmonaria, I have several of these. I found a seedling with blue flowers blooming away in a path yesterday the only ones nearby are Red Start and Sissinghurst White, go figure.
I don't have Polemonium anymore, I tried Brize d' Anjou (sp) a couple of times but it just won't winter for me.

Annette

Hi Annette. I think your blue seedling may be reverting to the ancestor of the named varieties including the white ones. Sissinghurst White has failed for me a couple of times and now I just go with what works - the common blue/pink P officinalis.
CMK - I just went out again and there are not many slugs out tonight. Although it has rained today the temperature has dropped so I think they're lying low. So far the neighbours have not mentioned seeing me creeping about with a torch and an ice cream container full of salty water.

Flora

Hee-hee!!! Thank God our neighbours tolerate and humour us. I second Flora's statement that your pulmonaria has reverted!! I had some in the old garden, from a friend's Mum, and it bloomed blue and changed to pink - very pretty. My Niece knows it as Lords & Ladies, from her GM's garden, and showed the neighbour kids how to pulls the flowers out, and suck the sweet sap from the flowers!!! So far, all are still fine!!!

Nancy. - PS, Annette, I have my Mum's polemonium, and it survives here, so - - I could send you a chunk when it comes up, if you like. It is an old cultivar(?), blue/lavender flowers and tough as old boots!!

Have you tried ammonia and water? 1:10 mix. Spray the plants and they are supposed to leave them alone. As soon as the hosta in the north bed come up, I know I'll be trying the recipe. Supposedly, a 1:20 mixture can be used to water the soil and kill the eggs. That bed is new, so I hope there aren't any eggs in there yet.

I haven't heard of the ammonia/water trick. Maybe I'll try it. But the problem here is that it rains so frequently that any spray is washed off quite soon.

I also planted a couple of 'Jack Flash' Silene seeds a couple of weeks ago. I see one little sprout up! This plant is so cool; the flowers are interestingly shaped and are a wonderful salmon pink. I bought a plant a few years ago, but it has been doing poorly. I don't know if it just doesn't like the soil/climate (tag said it was fully hardy though) or was just and unhealthy plant when I bought it. I took some seeds just in case it did not survive.
CMK

Here is a link that might be useful: Jack Flash Silene

My hosta on the north side of the house have poked through the mulch I put down last month. I've got seedlings popping up all over the place where I had cleome last summer. I hope they're coming back. I spread seeds all over in a much larger circle than where I had planted the three I bought on clearance. They might be weeds though. My poppies are starting to put out a lot of new growth too. I can see individual plants now and not just hunks of seedlings from my poor scattering methods. I think I'm going to be very happy with them in the end. I should thin them some I guess since most are growing very tight against each other.

The thundercloud plum is blooming. The daffs are pretty much done with only a few left. The tulips came up, but there won't be any blooms this year. I guess like Nell, they just don't return here year after year without replanting. Oh well.

Wintersown seedlings are putting out growth too. Some plants are already the size of my fist. I've got stargazers popping up. Asiatic dayflower is sprouting all over the place. A few pieces of purple queen are returning. And the wigela is leafing out. Another week and my Japanese Maple will be covered with real leaves. If we get another frost, I'm going to hate myself when I forget to cover it.

Calycanthus floridus. Sweetshrub. I smelled it before I noticed the blooms.

Once spring breaks out, there's something new to discover every day.

Nell

I just bought my first perennial of Spring 2009! Rock Cress, Arabis blepharophylla 'Rose Delight'. I went into Wal-Mart for soap and came out with a plant (naturally I would go thru the Garden Department). This cute little kid came up to me and said he liked my flower, so I let him sniff it. I never knew Arabis smelled so good! I am hardening it off on the back steps right now, and will plant it in a week or two.
The grocery store had plants out too! I think I may go back and get the 'Tiny Tim' Euphorbia.

I cleared out the leaves from all of the beds the past few days and brough out the patio furniture. Crocus, snowdrops, and Glory of the Snow are blooming now!
CMK

Snow. Ice this morning & now it's snowing. Oh! Yuck :( Everything was coming back so well. Daffodils were blooming.

token,
Yellow Double Knock-Out roses at Lowe's???
That's where I got mine last month!
And a Double Pink too.
Can't wait!

Hosta pests - My hens like to scratch around them for earthworms, the fat little whoosits! I have to put little cages around my plants to keep them out. They also nibble on the leaves. Aaahhhhh! Shoo! Shoo! They take off running, go around the tree and just come right back.

Eggshells supposedly keep slugs away. The shells cut their skin. "It's in the Book!" ~Annie

Today was awesome!!! 15C/60F!!!! Raked a whack of leaves that only got piled near the composter last Fall. Composter is overflowing. Burnt almost all of the twigs and branches from last Fall, and this Spring, as well as the ugly faux brick panelling from the living room. yea!!! I was in a t-shirt and sandals!! I wish for another day like today, tomorrow, but the weatherman says it is not to be - rain/snow, depending on the temps. Hopefully not snow, but even though bulbs are showing their noses, and some perennials are greening up, they're not going crazy. It's still way to early, even though I can rake and do everything in a t-shirt and sandals.

Sigh, it is barely Spring!!!

Nancy.

I cleaned off flower beds today, too. Normally I wait awhile until I can be pretty sure we don't get any more cold temps, but I guess I got anxious. Everything seems to have made it through the rough winter, even the Astrantia "Moulin Rouge" that I forgot all about! And the "Elise Feldman" Anemone which I had planted in a not so kind location has new little leaves coming up. How on earth did it survive in the wet spot by the gate post?!

Both "Moonbeam" Coreopsis look healthy,too; just hope the snow showers we are expecting don't hurt them. Maybe I should place a few dried flower stalks on top of them just to be safe.