The cool spring continues but the few warm days we had last week allowed the plants to start catching up with where they should be.   The trough plants are beginning to bloom and many of the ephemerals are starting their show.

This beautiful primrose  – Primula marginata ‘Bentham’ was – purchased three years ago and this year it is blooming in my soapstone sink trough

Saxifraga apiculata ‘Alba’ (the white one) and Saxifraga sancta (yellow) share trough space with an unknown pink bloom

These Hepatica buds are as lovely as the blossoms I think

I also have a wild Hepatica  – smaller and lighter blossom – peeking out from behind Dutchman’s breeches foliage

This is a new bloodroot I purchased last year  – Sanguinaria canadensis – pink form

The lettuce and spinach are up and I’m expecting peas, radishes and beets to break through any day now.  Now if Ma Nature could bring us a little more warmth, it would be most appreciated.

I planted peas today……..and radishes, lettuce and spinach.  My hands are a mess, my back hurts and I have a big smile on my face.  It felt so good to get back out in the dirt.   The crocuses and snowdrops are blooming and everything else is growing, growing, growing.  I swear I can just watch things shoot up before my eyes.   I moved a lot of stuff around last fall, and I wrote most of it down but I have some mystery spots on my garden “map”.   I know I put something in those spaces but I won’t know for sure what until something comes up.   Can’t wait.

In the meantime, this might look like a pretty boring photo but to me its just beautiful because I planted sugar snap peas in that dirt. They should be up in a week.

You may recall that I received a wonderful flying pig for Christmas from my son, daughter-in law and granddaughter.  They live in Florida and the pig resided there over the winter .  I named her Primrose, thinking that she would be a good harbinger of spring when I brought her home to the garden in April.   There should have been primroses.  Not so.  Instead I woke to this yesterday.  Primrose was giving me a Mona Lisa smile………however, I was not amused.

The snow is gone from the upper garden, and I can see some of the new ephemerals I planted last year poking through the ground.  Temps in the 50’s and 60’s are forecast for the weekend.  I think there will be lots to report about next week.

We returned from the sunny south on April 1st – and nature had her little April Fool’s joke waiting for me  – still a lot of snow on the ground.    I didn’t blog much these last two months because I was very fortunate to be able to spend February and March at a little cottage 5 minutes from the beach in St. Petersburg, Florida.  Yes, I could have chronicled my adventures and posted beach photos and tropical foliage.  However, since the blog is about my garden here in Massachusetts, I thought the blog could rest along with the garden.

Now that I’m back, its time to assess the winter damage.  There is still a lot of snow on the ground but the temps are above freezing so the snow line retreats more each day.

The moles and voles were very busy under the snow, but I saw a fox this morning and there should be no shortage of breakfast for him.

The deer fence (fishing line strung between stakes) held up and the deer did not get into the azaleas.  I think I will leave the fence up for awhile though because any deer who survived will be ravenous.  I scouted around the yard and found pussy willows

a hellebore and snowdrops are blooming out by the road

shoots poking out of the ground

Goldfinches turning yellow

Spring is here – just slow……