Due to the dryness we had in the fall and winter, the wildflowers are almost non-existent so far, but the shrubs and trees all think it is spring. The only wildflowers putting on much of a show are the tiny white-flowered spring beauties.

Everywhere you look in Love County, you see daffodils, hyacinths and even some tulips blooming. Cultivated plums, and some peaches, are blooming but the native ones are not. Willows, in particular, and a few elms and other natives are leafing out. The "Bradford" ornamental pears are in full bloom around town, but the slightly later blooming "Aristocrat" pears are not. Most of the flowering quince and forsythia have already bloomed, their bloom period is ending and the leaves are beginning to appear. The Iris foliage is up about 6", so they may bloom by Easter.

Winter wheat and winter rye fields that have limped along on little moisture all fall and winter are now taller every day, and lush and green, thanks to the 3" of rain we've received in March. (Hallelujah! Rain!)

Weeds are sprouting everywhere, and even our bermuda grass is greening up a little. The purple winter creeper has new flower buds, as do the wisteria and honeysuckle, and the native Mexican plum looks just a couple of days away from blooming. The 'Jane' Magnolia had lots of flower buds last week, but lost them to the snow and sub-freezing temps, but already has a few replacement ones forming.

There are more and more butterflies, bees and other flying insects around every day. The Purple Martins have begun building nests in one of the Purple Martin houses, and many other birds are building nests in the trees and shrubs. We have huge numbers of birds, both those that are migrating through, and those that appear to be here to stay.

The frogs are singing at night, which sounds lovely at this point.....but as more and more join in later, it will get so loud that we can't sleep with the windows open at night!

What is still asleep? Well, the oaks have that fuzzy look that get right before they bloom, but they aren't blooming yet. The native persimmons have tiny buds, but not much happening there either. The pecans are still in winter mode, but the cedars are about done with all their pollinating, which is great for those of us who are allergic to cedar. The native blackberries are leafing out a little down by the pond.

It WAS a little chilly last night--about 35 or 36 degrees but we'll have highs in the 60s to lower 80s this week, with lows in the 40s to upper 50s. Do I think we've had our last freeze? No way. But, I do think freezing weather will be rare from here on out.

We're seeing more and more bunnies, including babies, but fewer deer. That's normal for us....the does don't come around to the deer corn very often once the harsh winter weather has ended.

All the undergrowth in the woods seems to still be sleeping away under its heavy cover of leaves and debris, although some of the plants on the edges of the woodland are starting to wake up a little.

In the herb garden, the lemon balm is about 2" tall and a few chamomile and chives plants have sprouted. Some parsley that overwintered has greened up, as has the catmint "Six Hills Giant". The tansy seemed to die out in last year's excessive rainfall, but that may be just as well, since tansy turned out to be much larger and much more vigorous than expected. If I sow some replacement tansy seed, I think I'll move it out of the garden proper and put it elsewhere.

In the cottage border that surrounds the veggie garden, the poppies, hollyhock, larkspur, veronica, blue salvia, common yarrow and verbena bonariensis all have a lot of foliar growth, but no flowers yet.

All my tomato plants that have been growing inside under lights, with a daily trip outside for a few hours of sun, have now moved out to the front porch to stay until they are planted. No cold nights are forecast until the weekend, and I think I may even leave them out over those two nights if the temps are not going to go below 40 degrees.

Today I am potting up various herbs and flowers from their starter peat pellets (many seedlings per pellet) to small paper cups. Then, I will put them in the shade for a few days before they get to move to the partially shade side porch to harden off.

I am starting seeds of warm-season annual flowers inside today, and may start a few warm-season veggies inside in the next few days.

Spring is definitely here, but I am not sure that winter weather won't pop in for a couple of visits during the next 3 or 4 weeks.

We have a cold front coming Friday night, I think, that will cool us off only a little, and violent thunderstorms are in our forecast for Monday. Of course, that's a long way off so that forecast could change.

It is, unfortunately, too muddy to do anything in the garden, but a couple of days of full sun should help dry up the worst of the mud.

Dawn

The first redbud is blooming in Love County. This particular tree always blooms about 10 to 14 days earlier than the other native redbuds here in Love County, and it started blooming on Tuesday.

Also, I've seen two hummers, so guess I'll put up the feeders today.