Oh sure, Katie, leave me the hard part! Just kidding! What a beautiful ending, perfect, Katie! I'm adding my part now, so we can all read how the poem fits together. And I'll post again when I get the poem from Katie. And I just want to say: Great job, everyone! Not just with the poem, but you all did an excellent job of keeping the Robin going, in a timely manner, for which I am really thankful! Wasn't quite sure how this would work out, but it turned out far better than I could have hoped for. Thank you all for being such great FOTESSERS! And one more thing, I really enjoyed doing the Robin (and hope you did too), and loved Margo's idea for doing a Round Robin Story. SOOOO, we may borrow another month from Jeanne and do this, maybe in the Fall. Keep it in mind and I would appreciate any imput, ideas or suggestions for a Round Robin Story. And because I didn't have to work very hard to finish up, I thought I would give the Poem it's title: Friends of the Earth's Spring Journey A haze of green and longer days, And lots and lots of rain! Helps nature work behind the scene as sunshine pushes through the grey. Upwards push the tender tulips. Companion of the daffodil So lovely, but I sigh, there are evil weeds to dig, battle them tomorrow, for now a glass of wine. First blooms of Redbud glow pink and bright, under a clear blue canopy in the morning sunlight. As with all God's creations, spring brings forth the beautiful flowers. Which are doubly enhanced by the coming of April's showers. Pollen-nation! Oh the sneezes and the misery; the price we pay for leaves on the trees and a colorful array of bright Spring flowers. Let the rain come back again - the irritants to devour. Descending from cloistered winter aeries, Exclusive silver-winged garden faeries dance in the flower beds among blossoms of yellow, pink and red. Cherry trees blossoming in the sun, give a small taste of bounty yet to come. Days lengthen, the earth grows warmer; summer's just around the corner. Awaiting to see the hummingbirds flight, so majestic, what a delight. How fast and silent its small wings zoom, intending to drink nectar from every bright bloom. Spring has sprung, the blossoms bloomed, Now there are plants to tend. Never fear, SummerâÂÂs almost here; But for Spring, this is THE END! Shirley!

Oh boy, Do I have pics lol.... I just went out there to capture everything for this month, so I can compare it next year :) Central Indiana zone 5 ( excuse the weeds ) Last week I bought some tulips, a mix of yellows and reds but the red ones seems to be a bit late in the game.. loving them! Limelight Panicle Hydrangea waking up I got 2 of these blomerang reblooming lilac last fall on the clearance table, they looked like they were not going to make it but look at them now... gorgeous girls! This little one Full Moon Coreopsis likes to take over this whole area, so this year I have to find some sorta small fence to keep her up Baptisia Decadence lemon meringue... is taking her time. Elegans Plantain Lily Hosta, she is gonna be a big pretty one! she got hurt by one of the neighbor kids, as you can see one of the leaves.... that kid is not invited anymore. I just put this Renaissance Spirea on the ground 4 days ago, I did not want to trim it because I wanted to see her bloom... She is so cool! I can't remember this one's name but she trippled her size from last year lol

Ruth, I just returned home from my MN trip. Yes, my Clematis plant from Bluestone arrived this past Monday. I have somebody who comes in to water etc, when I am gone, so I had tipped her off that something was coming from Bluestone. She opened and watered after it arrived. It was supposed to come the previous Friday but did not. My buddy said it was in very bad shape on arrival. She followed the the after arrival directions. There is some new growth starting so I think she will be fine. I am so excited about Clematis nubia.....5 inch velvet red flowers. Thanks so much Ruth for this very cool plant!! Enjoy your trip.....be safe!!

Nancy, me too! I'm going to try sweet potatoes in mineral tubs this year. I didn't order any from George. Has he already sent yours? If not, I wonder if we could share shipping and I could pick mine up at the SF? That's if the timing works out. I know shipping has gone up a lot for him and I don't need to order more than a dozen. Anyway....let me know what you think. I should have made my own, but didn't. Also, my oakleaf hydrangea is leafing out. It looks good so far. It struggled the last two year. Lori gave some advice to me. So, hopefully it will continue to look good this year. Also a cattle panel fan. And a handy panel fan. Have many of those. I'm gonna do it. I'm going to put in the first 6 tomatoes this afternoon. Two trays are in the ridiculously big state---and I didn't even start them early! Oddly, the other trays aren't looking great and aren't so big. They don't look bad really, just a little something. I suspect they got wind burned. Maybe. It's the Jet Setters and Heidi. They all got a drink of fish emulsion this morning, so maybe they will perk up a bit. I would like them to get just a bit bigger before giving them out and before bringing them to the SF. Other than that, I cleaned up the area around the chicken pen. Tore out the old morning glory vine. I hope morning glory seeds aren't poisonous to chickens because they gobbled them down. And, the scarlet salvia. And whatever else was there and dead. Also trimmed up the "coral honeysuckle" or whatever kind of plant it is. I believe Dawn said the name was/is Pink Lemonade. It would be my luck that she accidentally dug up something else. LOL And that is what I have. Oh well, it is doing the job of shading the chicken pen, so that's good. And it's not ugly. I did quite a trim on it though. It just sat for a couple of years and really took off last year. Then....I scattered some wildflower type of seed that I picked up from the Okies for Monarchs group....and some that Stella gave me. We'll see if anything comes up. I scattered and watered down a lot of seed. Rest time is over. Time to deliver eggs and plant tomatoes. It's hard putting those first ones in.