Sunday, March 6, 2011

Spring has arrived!

flowering plum trees

pansies in full glory


emerging ferns



forsythia along fenceline


heleboros


Spring, in all of it's wonderful glory...awesome

I just returned from a week-end in Wisconsin, and loved seeing the fluffy white snow, glistening in the sun.  It really shows off the structure of the garden & plants.

However, when I returned home to Charlotte, everything had burst into bloom, the weather was in the high 60's and it was glorious! This is the very reason I love living here.  At least one of them.

As an avid gardener, I have the advantage of being outdoors every day of the year, and almost always have something in bloom. But, our springs are long, and so pretty.
These are some pictures of my gardens that I took this week, and they bring me such joy!  I hope you enjoy these fresh new beginnings, which make anything seem possible.

So, now is the time to get busy again.  So much to do.  Pull the early weeds, add compost, composted manure and mulch to all of the gardens.  I use hollytone on many of my schrubs, since we need to adjust our heavy clay soil.

But each autumn, I compost all of my leaves, and they turn into the most wonderful compost.  After 10 years here, my garden soil has turning into a much more workable, loose mixture, and with the minerals that the clay provides, my plantings are very happy.

So here we go...get ready, start, & get your hands dirty!