Virginia's Tiniest Farmer and I toured the Back Forty (cough *square feet* cough) this morning and found a few signs that spring is truly on its way.
The crocus have bloomed, and the chickweed has sprung up. The crocus will be a distant memory within an month, but the chickweed will continue to vex me throughout the growing season.
The fuzzy green leaves of "Paprika" yarrow have begun to push through the soil. In the summer, these plants will be covered in beautiful red flowers, and in the fall, its seedheads will be a tasty snack for birds. You're welcome, little dudes.
The azalea buds are beginning to fatten up. I'm not a big azalea fan - I think they look lovely, of course, but I can't deal with how much those spider mites love them - so these two are guests in one of my raised beds until they are ready to head over to my next-door neighbor's front yard.
Hellebores! Or Lenten roses. Tomayto, Tomahto. They are also budding, and should bloom soon. Did you know that Lenten roses are in the same family as clematis and columbines? The More You Know (tm)...
More winter rye has sprouted in one of the raised beds. I used rye as a cover crop in the beds this winter, and the plants never grew more than a few inches high but stayed pleasantly green throughout the colder months. I turned this bed over a few weeks ago so that the rye would decompose into the soil and enrich it; some of the seeds must have come closer to the surface when I did this. They'll be turned into the soil, too, to amend it with plenty 'o' good stuff.
Virginia's Tiniest Farmer and I did a little recreational digging, just to get our wiggles out, but we're looking forward to really getting our shovels (some more plastic than others) dirty in just a few weeks.
He must have been thrilled to get outside and use his shovel. :o) My hellebore aren't blooming yet. They're still too small.
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