Up until today I wasn’t willing to say that spring had arrived. I know that once we get to the Vernal Equinox, it’s technically spring, but we weren’t seeing signs of it in things that should be green or blooming.
And then we came to April 9, 2013, and everything that grows is telling us that SPRING IS HERE! We’ve had some pretty bad thunderstorms for the past couple of nights. Thunder and lightening woke me briefly last night, and we could hear heavy rain on the skylights early in the day. The result? Grass greening up, and the squill has formed a tight green mass around one of the trees.
I have Ice Follies daffodils in bloom! There are pods of daffodil greens coming up in all the gardens. Tulips and hyacinths are beginning to show flower development, and the iris are shooting up. I need to add some dirt around the iris corms. Some of them are sitting on top of the dirt, where the soil has eroded away during the winter.
We still haven’t seen herons or egrets this far north. I know they are down near I80, but it’s much warmer there. We’re keeping watch. I think by next week we may see them. Red wing blackbirds, Eastern starlings, starlings, Blue Jays, flocks of robins and house finches have returned. The cardinal songs are loud and long. Chickadees and juncos are still here. I’ll be watching for the visitors who stop off on their way north, like the yellow bellied sap sucker, and the gross-beaks. We rarely get more than a couple off those birds, so it’s really fun to see them visit.
Our house is very clean and tidy. No one has come to see it in the last week, but that’s okay. We have long been confident that it will take us a while to find the right buyer. Meanwhile, we continue to work on the grounds and the basement and the garage. I think we will have time to let the exercise class come for breakfast in May.
I’m ready for the forsythia to bloom, and the star magnolia to burst into flower. I’m eager to see if the new hydrangeas have made it through the winter. I want the trees to shade us from the increasing hours of sunshine. I’m READY!!! Come on, Spring!