Saturday, March 22, 2014

Spring arrives on the calendar

Finally a few signs of Spring arrive, as the calendar tells us it's Spring.  These daffodils finally appeared up three inches or so all at once in a sheltered spot near the front of the house.  One day this week our house and the surrounding woods were thick with robins -- there must have been hundreds of them.  I heard the movement of dry leaves in the woods that sounded like a large herd of deer tromping through the trees, but when I investigated I saw that all of the noise was being made by robins who were flipping over leaves on the floor of the forest looking for something to eat.
These crocus appeared all at once as well blooming in front of the house.  An early sign of Spring that is much later this year.  The usual first harbinger of Spring -- the snow geese flying over in large numbers -- never appeared this year.  They must have used a different route, perhaps due to the heavy snow cover here during that time.
The fuzzy buds of the magnolia tree in front of the house are swelling.
The garden still lies dead and brown though, with only the faintest showing of green on the ground.  The dried remains of last years grapes show here on the vines.  I have planted my tomato, pepper and eggplant seeds inside to start them for planting in May.  I fear that the Spring will be slow and late in coming this year.  My bees are still alive but I do need to get medicated syrup on the hives for them as soon as the weather warms up enough -- perhaps in another week or two.

No comments: