Daffodil and Pine
Daffodil and pine are one of my husband’s signature arrangements, the sharp green needles and tender yellow blooms presenting a perfect picture of late winter morphing into early spring. Along with bi-colored ‘Ice Follies’, the little yellow ‘Tete-a-tete’s’ are just poking through and I saw a sky blue starry Chionadoxa yesterday.
Hellebore hybrids are in full flower, pure white ‘Ivory Prince’ notable among the more common mauves and green. Purple and yellow crocus stud our lumpy turf and the deer have just browsed the old patches of “Tommies” (Crocus tommasinianus) whose ethereal pale lavender blossoms we get to enjoy for a few days each year. Like the Japanese with the cherries, fleeting.
It was a good year for snowdrops and I continue to resolve to plant more this fall in large masses as well as popped into surprising crevices especially in front of rocks and evergreens. You literally cannot have enough snowdrops. What would be the limit? One clump in a corner on the old north porch is the last to come out and says farewell to our season. The early ones in the sun are beginning to go to seed as their grey-green strappy leaves fatten up with nutrients to feed the bulbs.
Snowdrops/Galanthus elwesii
We may get a nip of cold temps – and historically, there’s always a chance of snow – but ever since Groundhog Day, spring has been coming on strong. We finally pruned the roses today and have the burn piles in the vegetable garden ready for a suitable day. We’re only now calming down from the great Nor’easter that did so much damage up north. We lost electric for a couple of days but had little wind damage.
Potatoes and peas on schedule for St. Patrick’s Day. Need to cut back asparagus patch and get manure for the roses. The spring list grows. The full moon is gibbous and Orion sinks early into the western sky.