Good morning, gardeners, and welcome to the Saturday Morning Garden Blog!
We did it, garden bloggers! We made it through another week; another week of strong bodies (knock wood), sane minds (for the most part), and safe practices (rinsing and scrubbing, rinsing and scrubbing, until our hands are raw). Despite the phantasm that dominates our news cycle, in my home and garden, Spring endures. My yard is at its best this time of year, as it sloughs off the scales of winter to expose brave, new life. Without further ado, let's put on a little music, grab a mug of something delicious, and have a look around at one of my favorite seasons ...
First, the crocuses! Those little troopers popped up around mid-February this year …
... much to the delight of the honeybees …
Shortly thereafter, it was time to tackle the first mow of the season …
You can see from the lingering frost in the shadowed corners how cold it still was ...
The fickle finger of Spring gave us our first "major" snowfall only days after my first mow! This was the view outside the dining room window on March 12th ...
... and this was the view two days later ...
But the snow melted quickly, after which we enjoyed a long string of beautiful, clear days. The early blooms in my yard include ornamental cherries ...
Plum trees (you can see a few of the beehives in the lower left-hand corner) ...
The bed of mixed bulbs (which is waking up more and more each day) ...
Clematis (i have yet to tackle this terrible tangle) ...
And forsythia ...
When the flowers start to fade on the plums and cherries, a group of ornamental pears stands in full bloom over the orchard like a trio of Corinthian columns ...
Meanwhile, for the past two weeks, i've been focusing my efforts on cleaning up the backyard trails (which are more important than ever given our shelter-at-home directive). A year of neglect and an especially windy winter effectively choked off several pathways with prickly thickets and fallen trees. But a little determination and a couple of hand saws will soon make the trails fully navigable again ...
The clearing process can reveal some interesting surprises - Do you see a tiny white "V" in the center of this photo, right above the two diagonal logs?
Here's a close-up of what that "V" actually is! Some lucky coyote sure got a belly full ...
What kind of animal those bones originally came from has me completely stumped ...
Other highlights along the trail are the little carpets of trilliums, ferns, mosses and other wildflowers i'll always love but will likely never know the names of ...
Another trillium ...
Salmonberry flower ...
Progress ...
That's pretty much it in my neck of the woods, garden bloggers. Keep the faith; be kind to yourselves and one another. And what's going on in your gardens?
PS: Here's our upcoming Saturday Morning Garden Blog hosting schedule. As always, if anyone would like to write a diary (whether it be about gardening matters in general, or a "How To Use It" special feature), drop a note in the comment section (or send one of us a private message). We need more regular writers if we want to keep this series going, and new contributors are always welcome.
April 11th (Vol. 16.15) — DHM
April 18th (Vol. 16.16) — Mimer
April 25th (Vol. 16.17) —
May 2nd (Vol. 16.18) —
May 9th (Vol. 16.19) —
May 16th (Vol. 16.20) —
May 23rd (Vol. 16.21) —
May 30th (Vol. 16.22) —
PPS: I realized last week that quite a few of you who regularly participate in the SMGB have yet to become "official" members. If you'd like to join the SMGB group, just let one of us know and we'll get an invitation out as soon as possible.