HerbnArts

    March 20th, 2012...Vernal Equinox...the first day of spring!         Yeah!  It's the first day of spring!  I just have to spray paint something for the garden.  Early mornings begin to sound of clay pots clanking together here at Johnson House.  Call it the sounding of gardener's bells, if you will.  Finally, it is warm enough to be puttering outside in the garden.  Scraping copious amounts of dried leaves out of flower beds becomes a delight of discovery.  Wonderful little green plants are pushing their way toward the light and fresh air.             There is something satisfying about lining up my collection of clay pots.  Even thought it was not a brutally cold winter, some of the older, weaker pots have fallen apart.  Shards of terra cotta sit in small piles, here and there.  Useful to the end, the remains of deterio...

     Warm breezes gently blow across Lake Anna in Barberton today.  It is 70 degrees here in Ohio.  We have had such a mild winter this passed year.  With recent rains and warm temperatures, the grasses are greening up quite nicely.  The swans and the Canadian geese swam up to me hoping for a snack of bread or some goodie for them.  I was empty-handed.  Sorry guys, maybe tomorrow!       Yesterday, I began some of the spring clean-up in my yard.  Several storms with high winds had helped to cover the yard with a lot of dead wood that will be great for a bondfire.  Let the bonfires of Norton begin!  Neighbors come out of hibernation mode to spruce up their yards and to make the gardens ready for the explosion of color soon to come.  I have notice that the periwinkles have been blooming for about a week and a half now.  It has been delightful to put some of the hardier house plants outdoors...

     "...And she snowed, and she blowed"...finally, a bit of snow here in Ohio.  Or at least it was a bit of flurry for us.  I have missed having a real, snowy winter this year.  Don't shoot me for feeling that way.  I am still a snow bunny after all these years.  So, you can understand that I was cheered up when the brief flurries blew through while I was dining in my favorite cafe.  There was no accumulation of snow, but just having all those delightful snowflakes around kind of made my day.  It was as though somebody shook up the local snow globe for a minute or two.        I am trapped between two worlds.  While I love seeing it snow, I am eager for little green things to start showing up in the gardens.  Just as I was about to empty a bottle that I'd put pineapple sage cuttings into, I discovered that they had rooted.  It's a sign, it's a sign!  Start potting those crazy things...