Spring or Stuck in the Messy Middle

Spring arrived 2 weeks ago. Overall, the weather has been good. Cleo has been enjoying a lot of dog walks around the neighborhood and park. This has been good for me, as I am getting out during the day instead of walking after dark.

Spring also has me eyeing the front garden. I left the snapdragons in over winter, and in early March, there were green shoots on a good number of them. They had been protected by the stalks and leaves that gathered around the bases.  I decided to do some clean up, but it was too soon. Yesterday when I went out, I noticed that many of the plants have since lost their green.

Tulips and daffodils poke out of the earth, but are not yet blooming. I had more tulips last year, but I fear that the squirrels got some of the bulbs over winter. I watched squirrel friend, Dré, cut bush branches and build her drey in one of the large black locust trees at the back of the house. She might be the culprit.

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When I ventured out the other day, I noticed quite a few aster seedlings. Those arrived unexpectedly last season and are now spreading. I was careful to leave them in place. They are likely to bloom in August. The small white flowers were an expected sign of hope that lasted until early October.

I have not been out in the back garden for a while. That was my late dog Mona’s place. Cleo the dog isn’t much interested in it since it is mostly a brick patio though I do have some garden areas on the sides. We walked down the back path the other day and I could see the chives poking out and the untouched snapdragons still holding on to some green. Good that I left those flowers as they were.

Where I live, spring is the messy middle. If it gets warm too fast, flooding can occur. Winter can come back at any time. There was a dusting of snow just the other day. This is not good if protective coverings have been moved too soon. Small signs of hope emerge, but it is too soon for many flowers to bloom. For some plants, it will still take many more months to mature. It is worth the wait.

So life continues best with protective coverings. Backwards progress will ensue if caution is disregarded too soon. Summer will come soon enough but it needs to stay cool awhile longer to avoid flooding. It will be almost fall before the asters bloom again.