The plants got the message that winter is over. Every year this message comes in secret, in subtle ways that only plants seem to understand, but they all get it simultaneously and come back to life with a speed and enthusiasm that always humbles me, even after so many years of gardening.
This moment sometimes coincides with the spring equinox, but oftentimes it doesn't, and you are left scratching your head in disbelief and going back and forth between the calendar date and the trees that refuse to acknowledge it.
Spring always comes suddenly around here, you go to bed in a gray dormant landscape, and wake up in a lush green paradise.
I have been dreaming of daffodils for over ten years now and it looks like finally this year my dream came true. In all fairness, the potato sized bag of bulbs I planted last fall had to yield some result. They're everywhere, beautiful and fragrant, the color of egg yolk and sporting bright coral middles. I'm pinching myself constantly and this is just the beginning, most of the later blooming varieties have just now started to emerge from the ground.
The forsythia bloomed and I proceeded to prune the roses according to good gardening practice, only to notice this winter was not kind to them at all. There was a lot of damage, even on the floribundas, which usually weather anything that comes their way effortlessly.
Since this year I didn't start veggies from seed I get the consolation prize of getting bigger plants from the nursery. I know it's still too early to plant any of them outside, but I can hardly wait!
Main Areas: Garden Writing; Sustainable Gardening; Homegrown Harvest
Published Books: “Terra Two”; “Generations”; "The Plant - A Steampunk Story"; "Letters to Lelia"; "Fair"; "Door Number Eight"; "A Year and A Day"; "Möbius' Code"; "Between Mirrors"; "The Blue Rose Manuscript"
Career Focus: Author; Consummate Gardener;
Affiliation: All Year Garden; The Weekly Gardener; Francis Rosenfeld's Blog
I started blogging in 2010, to share the joy of growing all things green and the beauty of the garden through the seasons. Two garden blogs were born: allyeargarden.com and theweeklygardener.com, a periodical that followed it one year later. I wanted to assemble an informal compendium of the things I learned from my grandfather, wonderful books, educational websites, and my own experience, in the hope that other people might use it in their own gardening practice.