Yesterday officially marked the first day of Spring! Woo-hoo! I didn't want to get to ahead of myself by posting this so I waited until today. Where I live, yesterday did not feel like the first day of Spring. Not even a tad bit. It was nothing more than cold and rainy. However, today is much worse. I heard we would be getting snow today and I was just thrilled. Not really. Just when you start to think the cold is dissipating and barefoot season is on its way, you get slammed by the news of another winter storm.
I'm all for the winter killing off bugs and the fun snow days it brings but jeesh, I wish the season were just a little bit shorter. I'm hoping that this will be the last of the snow. Other parts of the country are getting slammed with snow right now and I feel for them. I like the snow for a few days and then the excitement just wears off. I'm just not a winter person! Who's not ready for the warmth of the sun on their face and the smell of barbecue in the air?
When you here that Spring is here, most people get an urge to just pack up their winter stuff and head out to their local farmers market, Lowe's or Home Depot. The excitement of gardening and landscaping becomes an immediate need to get out of the house. It's Spring Fever!!! I know I sure have it! Today is not looking hopeful though with all the snow. Over the weekend, when we had nice weather, I took a walk around the yard exploring and taking pictures of all the signs of Spring.
My neighbors have two rows of these beautiful trees up and down their driveway. I originally thought they were Dogwood trees. They are not, so I had to get an up close and personal picture of the actual blooms and compare them. Honestly, I think these may be white cherry blossoms, but they sure do remind me of Dogwoods.
DOGWOOD BLOOMS
Dogwoods have four leaves that form a cross and around the center you will see around twenty little seeds. Whenever I see Dogwoods blooming, I'm reminded that Easter is near. The celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ!
These are my Asiatic Lilies and they have already begun to show their little green heads so far. I planted these two years ago with a hope that I could just plant and go. Yes! I need some flowers like that in my flower bed. It turns out I was right. These are very low maintenance! Last year they doubled in size and this year it looks as if they may end up larger than last year. I did nothing for them but water them occasionally. Not only are these flowers very attractive, they come back year after year. I also read somewhere that these flowers attract deer but so far I haven't had any new visitors.
Here are some pictures of these bright colored beauties from last year. If you are into low maintenance flowers, that you only have to plant one time, these are it.
Another type of perennial that you may be interested in are Daffodils.
I'm sure you have seen these flowers at least once in someone's yard. If not, come on out to the countryside and you will see these flowers everywhere! These flowers require little to no maintenance and are very inexpensive. They also make great flowers for vases. If you have deer that like to hang out near your home, then plant these flowers nearby and you will be sure to keep the deer away. I would suggest planting them near your garden so you don't have to worry about the critters eating your veggies. Maybe this is why, I didn't have any problems with the deer eating my lilies.
Depending on where you live, these flowers begin to bloom every year in March and can last anywhere from 2- 6 months. For us, it's usually around 3 months when the flowers begin to fall off. Last year, I wanted to change the yard up a bit and decided to dig the above row of Daffodils up. I transplanted some of them to different areas of the yard and they are already blooming. I dug up so many bulbs last year that I just through all the extras into the woods near the house. This is a picture of the bulbs I through in the woods last year. I didn't even bury the bulbs and look at how they've grown! Seriously, they are stage 5 clingers!!
Most of us like to think that Spring starts March 1st and I can totally contest to that. March is usually when we start to see the signs of Spring everywhere anyway. However, the official day of Spring comes from the date of the Spring Equinox. On this day, the earth's axis is not tilted and the sun's rays shine equally on two hemisphere's. This means that the day and night hours are just about equal among the entire world. Then the days become longer, and the nights become shorter. This will lead up to the summer solstice on June 21, which is the longest day of the entire year. I'm not much of an astronomer but I do pay attention to the times! In the book of Genesis, we are reminded of creation and the signs.
So, we see here, why God created the sun, moon and stars. They all give light to the earth and are used all over the world in many cultures to determine days, years, seasons, etc.
If you have Spring fever, don't get discouraged about the current weather situation. Spring is here, even though it may not feel like it. Hopefully, we will see warmer weather this week and we can start to enjoy and embrace all the beauty that Spring brings!
Please leave a comment about what you like to do when you see the first signs of Spring. Thanks for reading!
