Spring green

It's been remarkable to see spring explode this year.  Perhaps this is normal, and I don't remember it being quite so quick, or didn't observe it closely enough.

Spring in the Piedmont

My gardening companion and I were wishing that we could see what will be happening in the mountains next weekend, although plenty will be happening (plant-wise) here at home in the Piedmont.

He's taking a group of college students in CU's Students for Environmental Action to visit a premier wildflower site on Sunday -Station Cove Botanical Area in USDA Forest Service land, adjacent to Oconee Station State Park.  It's a wonderland of botanical treasures, especially spring woodland wildflowers.

Green haze of spring

But I do think that the warm weather in February and early March has created an environment that has promoted the simultaneous flowering of oaks and hickories, flowering of redbuds and dogwoods, and it means now that SPRING is here.

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Tulips

These apricot-colored tulips are at their peak.  Bought as an impulse at the fall plant sale, I tucked them in an old pot near the potting bench.  But as they emerged, we took them out to the porch -- with the warm weather and time change, we'll have dinner out there this evening.

It's a reminder that we're almost to official spring.

Thank goodness.

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Spring-like weather

With a week ahead of lovely spring-like days, it's hard not to be enthusiastic about gardening of all sorts.

We certainly have cold days ahead, and frost, too, but what a gift to have a week of great weather, after a winter full of cold and snow (at least by our standards in the Southestern US).

There are cool-season greens to sow (racing against the bolting stimulated by longer days) and native trees, shrubs, and perennials to think about (as well as the hardy and well-behaved non-natives).

But there are also warm-season veggies to start in our warm greenhouses, or above a heating mat -- tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and tomatillos, not to mention a host of other plants that enjoy a head start on spring.

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Looking forward to spring

This time of year is one of looking forward. 

For those of us in the Southern U.S., spring is practically around the corner, as February will bring a number of pleasant days (just like we've had recently, with highs pushing 50°F with sunshine, woo-hoo!)

After the extremely cold weather in December and January, we're ready for a bit of our 'normal' Southern winter weather.

Actually, spring renewal doesn't really begin until mid February, with the flowering of the native red maples, along with the Asian ornamentals (Prunus & Magnolia selections, as well as many others).

But with the days lengthening, I feel the sense of spring just around the corner.  That's a good feeling.

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A lovely spring day

Much cooler than normal, we had another fabulous spring day here in the Carolinas. I was whining about our exceptionally cold and rainy winter weather through late February, but March and April have been quite nice. 

We've had only a few hot spells, along with lower than normal temperatures.  Now, if rainfall amounts get back up to 'normal' - we're still three inches short for the year - that would be great!

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A morning view through the gate

Leaving for work this morning, the light was perfect -- soft and mellow.

The young coral honeysuckle next to the gate is thriving, and in full flower.

And through the gate (or really over the fence), the side garden looked lovely, too, cloaked in spring greens, with dogwood white.

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Easter and spring

Easter, even for us secular folks, means that spring has arrived. Here in the Southeastern U.S., it was a lovely day: warm, sunny, and glorious with spring flowers (wild, ornamental, herbaceous, and otherwise).

My gardening companion filled up the new raised beds with the rich 'created' topsoil this morning, so we're ready to plant next weekend (and build two more new beds!)

Back home in the Piedmont, I tidied the satellite garden, and turned over all of the soil blocks in the main vegetable garden. It's beautiful soil there, but it will either be fallow or filled with marigolds this summer, as an control for the root-knot nematodes that have been a problem in recent seasons (for susceptible cole, pepper, and tomato varieties).

The garlic is looking great in the satellite garden, and the onions are coming along. And the asparagus plants (grown from seed last year) have popped up new foliage, wispy to be sure! The robust asparagus crowns that I planted last week may be better contenders for permanent space, but we'll see.

I've got 3 artichoke plants to put somewhere -- probably in a spot that shallots didn't come up. I can't imagine woodchucks liking artichokes.... do you think?

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Spring in the mountains

It's still early yet, in the Southern Appalachian mountains. But evidence of spring is everywhere, from the flowering daffodils to our native empheral wildflowers to the red maple fruits.

It was a long winter here in the mountains, too, and local (Asheville, NC) columnists have remarked on it.

Curiously, areas normally blasted by hard winters (the midwest) haven't been so bad this year. My friend Corrie says that it hasn't been so harsh this winter in Madison, WS -- I'm glad for them!

The northeastern states, however, had plenty of snow and late winter storms, not to mention the colder temperatures for the southeastern U.S.

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Spring

In some years, spring creeps in slowly and gradually, marked by an orderly progression of early flowering bulbs, Asian Prunus and Magnolia, followed by our native woodland wildflowers accompanied by native wind-pollinated maples, alders, and birches. More Asian species flower (quince, forsythia, winter jasmine...) and then our native forest trees release their pollen (achoo!) -- the oaks and hickories, in particular. Cedars and pines, although heavy pollen producers, aren't actually as allergenic as some of the other wind-pollinated species, I think because their pollen is larger, just like the pollen of insect and animal-pollinated flowers.

This year, however, spring is blasting in. Every day brings new evidence of buds swelling, shoots emerging, and flowers opening. The long cold winter has delayed progress of many herbaceous perennials, but they're emerging now.

And the overwintered greens -- kale, mustard, arugula, and spinach- after all the cold, they're primed to bolt, flower and produce seed pronto. Not in this year will they stay vegetative over a long cool spring. And the peas I sowed (optimistically some time ago) are finally emerging, too, to experience ??? hot weather, cool weather, rainy weather, or dry weather.

Gardening is fun because it's so unpredictable, I guess!

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Emerging spring shoots

Lots of plants are expanding shoots, and showing plumped-up buds. Spring is definitely on its way.

This creeping jenny plant, in a very shallow terracotta dish, looked like a goner after going through our harsh (for us) winter. But here are new shoots emerging. Fabulous.

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Soggy soil

After several days of wonderful spring-like weather, we're back to soggy soil and runoff. I'm quite sure that the groundwater supply is WELL recharged by now. Squishing across the lawn, getting muddy shoes in the trampled areas, and hearing a first 'spring' thunderstorm this afternoon are good signs, I suppose, for an amply wet spring.

I haven't even checked the long-term forecasts from the climate folks, as I would worriedly do during our recent drought years. The lakes are full pool, meaning our city water supply is ample, and the soil and subsoil is totally saturated.

It's time for more sun and warmth, and spring growth, even if it means concentrated pollen release from wind-pollinated trees and shrubs (achoo!)

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Fun Filled Springtime Potluck Party: Decor Ideas & Tips

Who can resist the temptation of taking life outdoors when the spring sun smiles over the horizon? The seasonal spring merriment is all around. Make it merrier with a fun-filled potluck party with your friends and family amidst the restful embrace of nature. Potluck parties are fun, but they usually lack for style in the scheme of planning other things around. Style your potluck brunch out in the backyard patio with easy decor ideas and tips.

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Get Your Kitchen a Refreshing Springtime Makeover

Spring is in the air, and mushrooms aplenty at the grocer's shop! It's time for some yummy delicacies. But before you start whipping up your favorite dishes, take a look around you - don't you think your kitchen looks a bit bland, and needs a makeover badly? Think out of the box .Get your kitchen the springtime freshness with some easy tips and ideas.

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Let The Spring Sun Shine On Your Backyard

Choosing the right springtime decor for doing up your terrace, patio or sunroom requires a combination of two things: functionality and style. If you are decorating your terrace, it should be done up like an extension of your stylized interiors. And if it's a front porch, lend it a look, which hints at how your home may like like from inside, for porch is the area which people see first when they walk up to your house. But, as we mentioned in the last article: Springtime Decoration Ideas For Your Prized Open Outdoor Space, the decor of the open space area should be kept minimal, comfortable, and inviting.

Bedeck your favorite open space area for the approaching spring, with a few more tips and ideas for spring outdoor decoration.

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Springtime Decoration Ideas For Your Prized Open Outdoor Space

There was a time when every home, big or small, used to have a small patch of open space enclosed within its boundary, either in the form of a porch, patio, or a terrace. But nowadays, with every single patch of land being used up for some cause or the other, such open spaces are becoming rare and a truly prized possession. So, if you boast any of the aforesaid open spaces, deck it up beautifully in order to give your home decor the perfect springtime accent. Here is some useful guidance on how can you spruce up your open-space area in the spring mood. Read more for Springtime Decoration Ideas For Your Prized Open Outdoor Space.

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A Few Great Springtime Tabletop Decoration Ideas

Spring is synonymous with rejuvenation. Spring is synonymous with celebration. With spring comes a series of special occasions when to say your loved ones that you care. Valentine's Day, a Bridal Shower, Mother's Day, Holi, Easter and many other springtime occasions all call for special decorations. Using a few essentials like a bright table runner, a beautiful crystal flower vase with a bunch of pitunias or zinnias, an enticing assortment of farm-fresh fruits in a fruit bowl, and a few decorative pieces, you can create a stunning spring arrangement for yourself. Read through a few tabletop decoration ideas, which you can try at home for a lovely luncheon table...read more.

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Liven Up Your Home With The Colors Of Spring

The vanishing fog blanket from atop the lake, the sparkle on the brook, the swaying buds amidst the dewy grass carpet, and the squirrels running from one tree to another – all say that the spring is almost here.

It's time to give your home a refreshing face lift. The walls need a fresh coat of color, your garden is longing for a small fountain that you promised it long time back, and then there's the attic window! Don't you think a window box brimming with springtime flowers and green grass will be just great for it? - There are so many things to do, and so little time! Don't freak. Just take one at a time.

Start with simple things that hardly need a blueprint to follow. First, pull up your rugs and mats, and reveal your floor. If you think it has lost its shine over the time, get it bleached. Next, turn to your walls, then the linens, the room decors and ....read more.

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Top 10 Ways To Make Over Your Home For Spring !

Warmer weather calls for a change in your home's decor. Update your home by bringing in sheer fabrics, pretty florals, and garden elements. Small things like rugs and mats, fresh blooms and cleaning up the area makes a lot of change, that easy to bring about and soothing to look at. Former About.com Guide, Coral Nafie, suggests the Top 10 ways to make over your decor for Spring!

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Spring and a first hummingbird!

It was a lovely day spent gardening. Today is Easter for Christians, and even though we're not religious, as a secular holiday, it has symbolism as a time of rebirth.

Spring is here. A newly mown 'lawn', borders and meadow edited of winter annuals, a flourishing vegetable patch, and all's right in the garden.


And now, about to have our dinner with greens and lettuces freshly harvested, looking out my study window, our first ruby-throated hummingbird of the season visited a few of the Carolina Jessamine flowers on the trellis out the window. Hooray!

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Spring in the Southeastern U.S.

March brings spring to those of us in the Southeastern U.S. The hints come in winter, with the lovely flowering imports from Asia, Turkey, Greece, and elsewhere. Crocus, snowdrops, daffodils, and spring snowflakes are among the bulbs; ornamental apricots flower in January and camellias flower from fall through winter, depending on the species and cultivar.

In good years, Magnolia stellata (Star magnolia) and Magnolia x soulangiana (Saucer magnolia) avoid the late freezes and put on a show. This year is one of those. I don't have a single picture that I've taken of Saucer magnolia (it's pretty enough, but otherwise not all that interesting from a wildlife gardening point of view, and 4 out of 5 years, the flowers get zapped by frost). So here's a photo downloaded years ago from Clipart.com, now Jupiter Images, I think.


But real spring means our ephemeral spring wildflowers: Trilliums, bloodroot, mayapple, Tiarella, Shortia (Oconee Bell), Wild Ginger, and a host of others. And now, the hardwoods are expanding their buds, from the hickories and oaks, to the flowers of sassafras and dogwood, and the really early flowering trees like red maple and winged elm are developing fruits.

A colleague took this lovely photo of Trillium cuneatum at the Garden. It's a remarkably large rosette that has apparently persisted through habitat alteration and path construction, as we just noticed it after a new path was built a couple of years ago.

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