Grudgingly Spring...

   ...As another of Ohio's glorious grey days reminds us that, yes, it is spring, but yes, you are still in Ohio, and it is not snowing...at least for the moment.  It snowed yesterday, but we have been promised temperatures in the 70's. Really?  I will believe it when I feel it.  But somehow the plants outdoors haven't been fooled whether the weather is cold or warm.  They are on schedule with shy purple blossoms of hyacinths and crocus beginning to show their brave colors. My potted chive plants are undaunted as they flourish in whatever crazy spring weather we have.  I am eager to begin straightening up Le Petit Jardin.  That is what I intend to do during our "heat wave".  Occasionally there is a squirt of sunlight to encourage me to get on with garden prepping.  Here in Ohio we don't really get serious about planting until May. It could snow at any time and there is always the chance of a last frost up until Memorial day.
     Though I wrote two blog entries in March I never managed to publish them.  March was too depressing to write about in reality. All I could think about was hot tea, planting tea gardens and going back under the covers for warmth.  As of March 1st it was wet everywhere.  Constant raindrops plummeted from the grey skies as March came in like a soggy lion. Though I note that I had killed a spider that day, it was already raining.  It was the day I first noticed the neighbor's overhanging lilac branches were budding.  Glorious lilac fragrance is just around the corner.  As of April the buds are in tact in spite of the snow and cold weather.  My hens and chicks are perking up and changing color. Thyme in a container has begun changing color just to let me know that it, too, is alive and well.  Grass everywhere is still working off the grey-brown winter color. So far, it is green-ish.  More rain and warm weather will kick the grass into reality and we can begin complaining about how fast it is growing, and that now we have to start mowing again.  By the evening of March first the Barberton area was slammed by high winds and five inches of snow confirming the fierceness of the March lion.
     Palm Sunday saw sunny skies that helped to melt some of the snows.  Squirrelzinis became more active as they searched for buried nut treasures in snow and brown grass.  By now, in April, the yard looks as though it has the same potholes as the streets in Summit county.  It is beginning to look like miniature bomb craters with so many holes.
     It is time to devise my spring gardening battle plans.  Soon the Mad Whacker will try once again to obliterate my still grey lavender plants.  Temporary fencing and posting signage is what I have decided as the first line of defense.  I'm a desperate woman and desperate times call for desperate actions.  My other nemesis is the local groundhog.  He or she is not beyond standing to full height to reach my tender sunflower seedlings. This year I intend to start them in containers elevated to the deck railings for their beginning.  Though sunflowers don't like to be re-planted, I shall attempt to place them in ground with temporary fencing until the are established. Since the downstairs neighbor and his little dog have moved elsewhere, I intend to expand Le Petit Jardin to include more flowering plants.  Daisies and purple coneflower will be among my flowering treasures.  This year I hope to include some Artemisia for wreaths.  A long time ago I used to create fragrant wreaths of oregano. I am looking forward to that warm nut-like fragrance once again.  A few vegetables may find they way to Le Petit Jardin.  Proudly I purchased my first spinach seed packet.  There should be some tomatoes this year. I have never been very successful growing tomatoes, but maybe my gardener's luck will change this year.  We shall see.
    The sun has been shining and the temperature has been rising at this writing.  Perhaps spring is actually happening here in the town of purple magic.  That, too, we shall see...

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