It's a Spring Thing

A week ago, the backyard had two feet of snow covering the raised beds. A few warm days and week later and spring is pushing forward with a passion.

The daily new developments have me looking forward to joining Abbey for a garden walk when I get home from work to see what new things have sprouted.

While the casual observer may not think that this meltdown has been anything all that extraordinary, a gardener's eyes are quick to realize how quickly things are sprouting this spring. And a gardener's eyes are more prone to look carefully between the leaves and drek left behind by the past seasons.

Take these tulips, or the daffodils below.

Around here in past years, it has taken more than a day or two after the snow melts for these plants to sprout. I'm chalking up this year's quick start to a mild December and January that allowed the bulbs to store up extra energy.

It will be interesting to see what happens as the forecasted cold front and snow showers move through tonight. The plants, I am sure, will be okay. But, if they wake up to a dusting of snow, I'm sure plenty of the people I work with will be in less than happy moods.

Gardeners aren't the only ones who anticipate spring. We just get to enjoy it a little more deeply.