The Months

“March brings breezes loud and shrill, to stir the dancing daffodil”. Sara Coleridge, 1802-1852.

Though it’s now April, that’s a perfect description of the weather we’ve been having. The daffodils and more are in bloom…I turned my back for a minute and spring has begun….

“April brings the primrose sweet, scatters daisies at our feet”  Well, not so much here in New England, although it must have been so in the Lake District of  “Old” England where Sara Coleridge was born and raised. Here, the ‘April White’ Rhododendron is blooming in a very timely manner, along with Pieris, Hazels, and an early flowering Cherry, ‘Snow Fountains’.

Rhododendron 'April White'

Rhododendron 'Victor'

Pieris japonica 'Purity'

Corylopsis sinensis, Chinese Winterhazel

Prunus 'Snow Fountains'

Desperately Seeking Spring

“March brings breezes sharp and shrill, Shakes the dancing daffodil.”

I walked through the greenhouses taking pictures of cacti, but I was not inspired. So I went outside in the gray, damp, cold, wet garden to look for signs of spring. I admit it, I’m done with winter…old dirty snow and mud…bleh.

Living near the coast, we have warm autumns and cold springs as the ocean cools and warms slowly.  March is mostly  winter, and  without a doubt, “April is the cruelest month”! but I found a few, just a few, signs of spring today. I looked in the warmest spots, usually those tucked up against a south facing stone or tree trunk or foundation.

The daffodils are not dancing yet, but have begun poking up little green leaves. They don’t mind that the temperature can go from 45 degrees to 18 in 24 hours. Good thing! The Witchhazel is really in full bloom, as well as Ozark Witchhazel  (Hamamelis vernalis) in the garden. The Winter Heath (Erica carnea), which the bees love, has tiny white buds showing. And one early – bird Hellebore in at the foot of a big birch tree near a stone wall is flowering before all the others.

What are your favorite signs of spring?