Early Signs of Spring

I should probably apologize for that last rambling, and ultimately boring, post. I should know better than to try writing anything after 18 straight hours of working. Thank you, JB, for finding something in it to comment on, and helping me salvage a little dignity.

After yesterday's rain, today started out clear, sunny and a little warm. I decided to take advantage of that to clear the flower beds in front of the house of dead leaves and the decaying debris of autumn. Hiding among the weeds that even winter can't kill, in the most sheltered part of the flower bed, these snowdrops are blooming.


They're very tiny and delicate and usually the first flower to bloom in our garden. Tulips and hyacinth are rocketing up and the roses, hydrangea, clematis and phlox are putting out new growth. I refuse to use chemicals in our yard, so every summer I go to war against the dandelions, pulling them up by hand. After two summers, their numbers have drastically decreased but I noticed today that they're already sending out new flowers, so the winter cease-fire will soon end.

The plan is to eventually turn more of the front lawn over to flowers and small shrubs although I'll have to add dirt rather than digging into it. The root systems from the cherry trees at either end of the yard are so extensive that I can't plant anything without excavating out large chunks of wood; at some point I would take out one root too many and the entire tree would come crashing down. It's bad enough that mowing the lawn involves slicing layers off the biggest roots protruding from the ground.

My next maintenance chore is cleaning the bird feeders and refilling them. Watching the goldfinches and chickadees from the front windows provides hours of torture for the cats. For now though, I am happy to have found several fat healthy earthworms in the formerly lifeless dirt sheltered by the eaves. They are a benefit to a garden and it gives me pleasure to know that they deem the soil fit to live in.

As I worked, the clouds started rolling in and by the time I was ready to put my clippers and gloves away I felt the first raindrop hit my nose. I can live with the rain, knowing that spring is on its way.