After six years of willfully displaying my immature excitement at new spring plant growth on this blog, it’s time to slow things down a bit. A never ending supply of minuscule pops of green is not very entertaining. In fact, those types of posts are a turn off to the non hardcore gardener. And if I’m here to do anything, it is to convert the non-obsessive to the obsessive.
So with that in mind, forget everything I just said. I’m a happily immature 43 year old who still gets down on his hands and knees and pulls back the mulch/soil for signs that perennials survived the winter. I use my left hand to hold back dead branches while the right hand barely balances the camera and some how manages to capture the rosettes of newly emerging sedum.
Maybe next year I’ll spare you the pain of my spring excitement. If you have had enough of these types of posts, photos or have seen all you need to see in your own garden, you are now free to leave. For those who stay, I’m sorry.
The ultimate rite of spring, the emergence of the peony. Still fun.
In the not too distant future, we will have carpets of moss phlox blooms.
I’ve struggled to grow lilacs of any sort but things are looking up already this spring.
Allium ‘Globemaster’ returning for another year. No flower garners more attention than this one.
Rhamnus ‘Fine Line’ (Buckthorn) is going to really take off this year and I’ll be there every step along the way.
A rosette of Ajuga peeking through the dead foliage. Tells me it is time to strap on my shit kicking boots and get my gardening on.
We don’t get such a distinct welcoming of spring in our neck of the woods, as we mostly have native Australian plants and pastures around our place, so it’s great to get the vicarious excitement!
I love your blog for it’s validation that my crazy is shared by someone out there!
Gardening is a fairly new obsession for me and I’ve decided to native plant garden (which feels something like being a lunatic rebel in my 70’s neighbourhood). I am glad I am not alone in my now daily neurotic yard tour, searching for a millimeter of growth, the hint of a bud breaking, or any evidence that I have somehow succeeded in growing my garden (mixed with a terrified fear that I have planted an untameable jungle). Thanks for your enjoyable posts!
But, John, this is why we subscribe to your blog. I enjoy every minute of it. And since I suffer from an overabundance of deer, I watch for plants you’ve had success keeping . I’ve had to give up my day lilies and hostas (well tree removal also was responsible by taking away their shade) and oriental lilies (red lily beetle invasion). So keep up the obsessiveness. You aren’t alone.