Weather report: 39ºF (that's at 12:00 noon), very windy. Rain ended, changing to snow flurries this morning.After two solid days of gentle spring-type rains, the garden is mucky ground, a quagmire to suck down the gardener's soul. On top of the rain, a cold front came through the Flint Hills this morning in front of a terribly brisk wind. The clouds are moving away finally, with brief sightings of sunshine that should slowly take better hold on Sunday. I don't know yet if it will be warm enough tomorrow to visit the garden tomorrow. Perhaps next weekend.
The bright spot in my garden today is the peak bloom of my Pink Forsythia (Abeliophyllum distichum 'Roseum'), bearing the hope of coming warmth even as it keeps its petals tightly wrapped to protect its floral genitals from the cold wind. Every year, I appreciate it more, the delicate blushed flowers and odd fragrance the harbinger of its more brash, yellow cousins. As a landscape shrub, Pink Forsythia leaves a lot to be desired, but its brief shining moment at the front of my peony bed is ample apology for its lack of beauty the rest of the year. At least it has the grace to take on its sparse dark green summer foliage and fade into the background the rest of the growing season, effortless to care for and disease-free in the bargain. I note again, for the record, the two to three week late spring this year. Compare today's bloom, if you will, against that from my blog entry of March 6, 2016.
It does look a bit more delicate and spindly that your normal forsythia. But, at this time of the year, you can't really be picky with something that is willing to go ahead and bloom for you. All we've got right now are the first of the daffodils. The temps here look like they will improve over the rest of the week, though it looks like it might rain again...which we do not need right now, with the valley just now starting to recede. While cold, it was nice to get out and do a lot of work, even if it was still too soggy to dig much! The sun felt good after such a long bleak Winter. And Winter's brief return yesterday, with flurries in the sky after having a 70 degree day earlier in the week! Nearly 10 years in Kansas now and I'm still not okay with the wild fluctuations of a midwestern Spring!
ReplyDeleteStay strong in these last throws of Winter! Spring has nearly won the battle!
Ten years? A mere Midwestern pup! I'm still expecting our May 1st snow flurries and will be mildly surprised if I don't see it. Especially since I've got a few new rose plants being delivered the end of this week. Sigh. I never learn.
DeleteI've basically given up on planting new roses. The Japanese beetles are just too much, the petals are gone within a few hours of them opening up.
DeleteSpeaking of pups, how that Bella doing?
Ornery as ever. In fact, while I was writing my new blog post tonight, she was outside "to potty" and came in chewing on something from an area near the garden she seemed fascinated by lately. After enticing it from her, I realized it was a rat-sized scapula, probably some pack rat carcass she found. Needless to say, she's not sleeping with us tonight.
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