L'Chaim

(something less serious)

A few weeks ago the annual garden show hit town. Lots of nice indoor displays of gardens (forced blooms, perhaps, but pretty nonetheless). It gets one thinking of spring, even if it is a tad too early for actually working outside.

Then, this past weekend, was the annual "Bloomin' Days" sale at one of the local garden centers. They always seem to get a nice, unseasonably warm, weekend for this sale. It was tempting to buy too many annuals, but they'd surely get zapped by a late season frost. I still managed to spend nearly $200 in two visits, ending up with a couple indoor plants, some nice new shrubs, and a handful of perennials. I spent all day Sunday outside working on planting some of the items, although I still have a lot more work to do. It doesn't help that I get easily distracted, moving from one task to another while I'm outside during these early days of spring.

In the meantime, the crocus and iris bulbs I planted last year are popping up, and the daffodils that have been around since I bought this house are in full bloom. There are small buds forming on last year's hydrangeas that I'd given up for dead, and even the azalea twig that I coated with rooting hormone and stuck in the ground is proving to be hale and hearty.

Last night, for the first time this year, I was able to sleep with the back door from my bedroom open, and I woke up this morning to the sound of dozens of birds - including the neighbor's rooster, although even that wasn't annoying me this morning.

I aim to make the best of this spring season, before we settle in to the unbearably humid days of a typical central Virginia summer.