Early Spring from a Warm Winter

petunias survived through the winter

Daffodils

Spring blooming Rosemary

Spring seemed to be coming on strong in February. It blossomed and charged ahead, but the brakes were put on with some unexpected cold weather. Our unusually warm winter ushered in a strong Spring, but the cold weather finally showed up, just as the lilacs were bursting and the daffodils popped into bloom. The frost fringed the daffodils with a ruffled rusty border, but they held on with their heart lifting yellow, white and orange colors to nudge our psyches into spring.

After surviving the last two very difficult winters, we were grateful for the mild winter that arrived in 2011. It treated us gently, so we weren't in a hurry for Spring to arrive this year. Though pleasantly surprised at the mild weather, we perked to attention and took in the botanical changes surrounding us.

 Many of the petunias in my patio pots survived winter quite well. They started blooming pretty early in April. This petunias looked pretty well at the end of March, as you can see in the photo. They bloomed shortly after this and have been blooming ever since in big purple plumes. The Rosemary seen below, has been blooming for most of the winter. It was a surprising wand of violet in the cold of winter and even fuller into the Spring.

The Varigated Myrtle seen here multiplied ten fold
over the winter.  It has the garden covered as thick as beaver fur, and has been sprouting new wands all spring.  It has thickened up so much it has kept the wire grass, the bane of every Delmarva gardener, completely out of the patch of ground it covers..  Now that I see that it can use it for that, I am looking to plant that stuff all over ever garden beds  I have cultivated. It seems like the Daylilies, Daffodils, Tiger Lilies, and Black Eyed Suzies should be able to come up right through it, but it should keep the weeds out making my gardening life a lot easier.

Our native wildlife also reacted to the early spring. We hoped the hummingbirds would arrive early, but they too seemed to be thwarted by the cold, and showed up right on time. It is very interesting to see how the migratory species seem to arrive at the same time every year. Eagles came in in January and through February, just as they seem to do every year. Ospreys arrived in the middle of March, as the Junco's started disappearing, moving on to northern territories. Early Spring had its benefits in the garden beds as discussed above. The predicted frosts held off vegetable planting, and that was a negative. On the positive side the herbs are big and healthy and I am cooking with all of them already,. Like everything else, you ger the good with the bad.