Spring????

One of my favorites is the common violet. A little bouquet is so sweet.

Weigela "Red Prince" is ready to bloom.

It sure looks and acts like Spring around here - sun, warmth, wind, storms...

In talking with the owners of Red Barn Nursery, they were amazed the number of people already buying and setting out tender annuals. #1, most nursery plants are not very big or tempered off. #2, we could still get frost (it's predicted for Tuesday night here).

It's been such a wonderful Spring. I don't remember things blooming this early or this lush. Since I've been keeping my "all things gardening/weather" journal, it shows we are almost a month ahead of typical.

Since I'm having a group over this evening, I did plant my outside front-of-the-house pots. I'll either move them in the garage for the night or cover them come Tuesday.

The only things I have planted in the garden are rhubarb and asparagus, neither will be harmed by the cold. I'm babying some cabbage plants but they should also be alright. Those that plant early, should see no problems with onion sets and some other early vegetable seeds.

Tomatoes need warm soil and no frost. I would venture tomatoes set out now will not beat the neighbors in production because they simply will hunker down and not thrive until it warms.

You can plant tomatoes in pots and move them inside and out as the weather allows. If you buy a little tomato set now and do not plant, it will eventually get really leggy and it will have to be pinched back and planted deep (which kinda negates the whole buy early thing.)

Enjoy this beautiful Spring and all our famous Midwest bounty. Cut some tulips, bleeding hearts, sprigs of forsythia, bouquets of lilacs and fill vases all over your home.

Take a drive to admire the trees and bulbs blooming in other gardens. I often wonder why we don't have scenic drives in the Spring instead of just in the fall. Washington State has figured that out with their Cherry Blossom Festival and a few others around specific flowers. Locally, yards blooming with all kinds of flowers are certainly just as beautiful.

As they say in the restaurant business when they set a plate of gourmet food in front to you: Enjoy!