Surprise!

Just when I start singing the praises of spring, we get hit with winter! It has been snowing for two days now. Not much snow and not that cold but it is cold enough to form icicles and not enough snow to cover the plants. I am getting a little worried about the tarda but so far they seem to be holding their own. We have better weather forecast soon so I am just going to hope they are right... and keep my eye on the green bits outside.

The Excitement of Spring !

In spring, I always say that spring is my favourite time of year. Then comes fall and again, I would say fall is my favourite time of year. But this year I am sure... spring it is! At least for now. The excitement in a new season for me is always the same - finding out what comes back that was new last year. In zone 3, new plantings are always most vulnerable over their first winter. The monkshood patch that came from Judy's yard when we relocated her patch, has returned and looks like it is going to be a healthy size. As I expected, there are already 5 or 6 delphinium coming up that need moving and by the time this season is over, there will be ten times that I am sure. Delphinium have gone crazy here and this is the year I am going to tame them! Ha! All these big plans. Easy to say when everything is 2 inches tall. I might feel differently when the delphinium are 6 foot plants!

Little Spring Bulbs

Scientific Name: Puschkinia libanotica
Common Name: Striped Squill

They may be small and common but I just love watching them pop up everywhere. I have little patches of this squill all over the place. They are second to bloom (after my heaths), along with crocus and lungwort. Next will be the blue and pink chionodoxa and that's just starting to open.

Heaths in Bloom

My heaths were swarming with bees all day so I decided to tidy the rock garden on another day. Some bloom late summer through fall, others later in the spring, and these two together early spring. Heathers and heaths are best planted together in groupings because you need to keep the soil much more acidic than other plants like.