Mother Nature, are you being sneaky?

I checked in the front, South bed today and my daffodils are in bloom. What?! This warm weather is really stirring up the activity on the lot. When I checked my post for my daffodils last year, they had bloomed around the end of April. Are they early this year?...or maybe last year they were late? It's going to be fun comparing my growing notes and garden photos from this year to the previous.

The peonies in the back bed have poked their shoots above the ground. I also spotted the tiny blades of the dwarf irises sticking out of the mulch in the fence bed. The foxglove, also in the gate bed, has some healthy new spring growth. If next weekend is going to be as nice, I'll reset some plant tags and run a full inventory check.

The Other Shoe Drops

March 20th is the first day of spring. I exclaimed this while my Better Half and I were munching on breakfast yesterday morning. We both looked out the window into our backyard, looked at each other and started to laugh. It was snowing.

Last year at the beginning of March, all the snow melted away and temperatures reached into the upper fifties. This year during mid-March, temperatures warmed in the same way. The star of Bethlehem, tulips and daffodils broke through the ground. The crocus were blooming. In a fit of gardening withdrawal, the butterfly bushes were pruned! Then it snowed.

This is a good thing. I feel like I can let out the breath I've been holding ever since the weather turned spring-like these past two weeks. Although I do enjoy winter, this is it's last gasp before leaving us and spring truly arrives. I can't wait. Neither can the plants.

In addition to the above mentioned bulbs, there are other plants stirring on the lot. While poking around in the beds, I noticed the sedum, lilies, irises, jupiter's beard, lamb's ear, poppy, delphinium, bleeding heart and lenten rose all showing new sprouts. I feel like it's Christmas morning.