Thinking of Spring

I refuse to believe it. That white stuff that is coming down outside can’t be snow. Just can’t be. Does this winter ever give up?

I have decided to pretend I don’t see it and am concentrating on spring. I have updated my blog with my spring-themed header and colors in hopes that will force spring to come our way. Molly is curled up on a fluffy blankie next to me and we are formulating garden plans, writing down tasks, mapping out the veggies for the raised beds...well, really I’m the one doing that and Molly is just napping.

This past weekend, I cleared out all the winter clutter out of the raised beds and added compost from my compost bin. Funny, I don’t think I have ever really talked about composting. Will have to do that sometime. My one compost bin really only produces enough “black gold” for my raised beds.

I took the time to walk around the yard to see what was happening. I wasn’t happy about these crispy brown bits I was seeing on several of the boxwood and my two Euonymus Green Spires. I have never seen this happen before. My best guess is that this is due to them being snow covered for so long, then the snow melting and the sun maybe “burning” some of the leaves...???? I cut out a lot of it and hope that helps. Here is what some of the boxwood looked like.

Here is what the Euonymus Green Spires looked like.

This one Skip Laurel that I planted last spring isn’t looking good either. I  hope it bounces back. The other Skip Laurel I had planted seems ok, though.

I was happy to see that these three boxwood plants in the “Secret Garden” area have bounced back. I have posted several pictures of these lately, when they were totally snow-covered and then when they looked almost completely flattened. They look as good as new now.

I don’t do a whole lot of cleaning out of the flower garden in the fall because I like to leave plenty for the birds to munch on in the winter, and also like to have some plants for winter interest. These dried coneflowers and sedum make for interesting textures in the garden. These will be gone by this coming weekend, though, when I clear out the flower garden and prep it for spring. I think I’ll cut some to bring inside.

Here is a close-up of the dried coneflowers. Pretty cool looking.

Signs of spring are slow coming this year due to the cold and snowy winter we have had. My Bridal Queen Hellebore is later budding out than usual, but it is finally showing signs of life.

Several daffodils have buds now. I can’t wait to see their happy, yellow faces. Nothing says spring like daffodils.

I am content to continue daydreaming with Molly about spring and live in denial about the snow outside. Snow? What snow? I don’t see any snow.