Last year, I waited till May 2nd to write a piece with this name about the forthcoming flowers. I got a couple of hours gardening in today and the anticipation is sharp.
Mind you, some of our springtime celebrants are in in full gear, these trees are just around the corner from us.
Stop flowering trees!
But if you sneak up close, there are a few little rogue branches on their trunks, the kind of thing a conscientious gardener ruthlessly amputates. This little guy is doing its best Spring thing, in its small way.
Today was compost day. Really proficient gardeners have all sorts of rules for when in the year one ought to apply compost. We use “that point in spring at which the compost bin is so full you can’t squeeze even one more small leftover salad in.” You can’t understand the joy of compost unless you’ve done it; this year’s sudden onset of warmth has put the compost in business, big-time, and each black spade-full is full of writhing pink worms. I explained to the kid that the plants sleep all winter and this is their breakfast: “WORMS FOR BREAKFAST!” I said, provoking a predictable giggle.
Above are two leaves from the big Evergreen Clematis (best seen here), whose blooms are mostly already out.
But I’ve saved the best for the last.
That’s right, the magnolia, much-illustrated in these pages, is getting ready to go.
