first spring sightings
“all i can say is that my life is pretty plain
i like watchin’ the puddles gather rain”
I took a walk outside yesterday with garden shears in hand, on the hunt for some branches to cut to place in a vase or two around the house. It is a bit early for that yet, but I’m nevertheless trying to force spring.
Beyond our fence in the part of our property that is still very much wild, things are waking up. The daffodils are coming up in shoots of green and the buds are beginning to show. Every February they are in such a rush to arrive; part of me is fearful they will bloom before a frost like last year. The quince branches are dotted with sweet pops of coral and the forsythia is unruly but I can still spy some yellow. The beginnings of peonies are poking up through the leaves.
The garden is still a tangle from the weeds that took over last year. Tulips are starting to grow, pushing through the dirt. I have a mind to transplant these along with the other bulbs when we redesign the garden layout in an effort to grow more and weed less, somewhere protected from the deer. I have big plans for it, which scares me a little. We truly jumped into gardening without any knowledge or a plan. Just lots of seed packets and a sunny patch of land.
The boxwoods in the front will need a spring pruning, something I’m looking forward to but still need to buy clippers for. I’m reading Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden and an old Martha Stewart book while my little girl takes her afternoon naps. Now is the time for adding the shrubs and vines and trees that take time to root and grow and produce their bounties. My wishlist includes hydrangeas, nandina, lilac, clematis and a magnolia tree.
We are coming up on four years in this home on this land in my little hometown. I’m so in awe that we’ve seen the seasons change and discovered the little things like our one hyacinth near the dining room window and the autumn clematis that grows near the honeysuckle. We’ve pulled up weeds and relocated stones and added fencing, but most of it remains the same. So much potential. And so many ideas and dreams.