Thursday, March 22, 2012

Please, Can We Just Slow Down a Little??

Dear Spring,

I am happy that you were not only on schedule this week but actually arrived early, unlike some years when snow or ice created delays for you.  I've appreciated all these warm, sunny days that you've given us the past few weeks.  But please, please, could we just slow down a little??


Less than a week I ago I was proudly showing off the crocuses and the first daffodils on my Bloom Day post, and now suddenly they've been joined by a whole row of the later ruffled doubles, 'Replete.'


Overnight, it seems, the garden has burst into bloom.  I'd like these hyacinths to stay around for awhile so I can enjoy their delightful fragrance as well as their blooms.


I'm loving the blue, blue skies and the budding of the redbud trees. But please, can we just keep these purple blooms around for awhile??  They just appeared, yet already I'm seeing the first tiny heart-shaped leaves emerging.  Yes, those leaves are pretty, but it's the purple shimmer of the redbud in early spring that I love most of all. Usually, redbuds are the first trees to bloom here, but this year they're competing for attention with all kinds of flowering trees, especially gorgeous magnolias in full bloom


I naively thought I would have the whole month of March and maybe part of April to get spring clean-up chores done in the garden.  Yet I barely raked away the thick layer of leaves on the shade garden in time for Mr. 'Jack Frost' Brunnera to put out some blooms.


Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky with the clematis 'Nelly Moser.'  I usually prune her in early spring, but as you can see, she's already put out so much growth and even a few buds that pruning her now will have to be done very, very carefully.   Hmmm, either Sophie is playing the Easter bunny with her tennis ball . . . or more likely, Mr. P. thought this would be a safe place to hide it while picking up the yard before mowing.  And yes, Hubby has already had to mow the yard!


Different varieties of Muscari were planted last fall in order to achieve the vision of a pleasing range of hues.  A few purple ones are already up, but apparently the others didn't get the early wake-up call.


Everything is moving at breakneck speed, and I'm having trouble keeping up with it all. I go out to the garden to work and get distracted by new blooms everywhere I look.   Ipheion 'Wisley Blue'--starflowers--are low-growing, so it's easy to overlook them if you don't take time to look closely.


I feel like a kid in a toy store, flitting from one flower to another, trying to see everything at once and enjoy it all before it fades away.  The very first tulips are blooming, to my surprise.  Are these 'Fur Elise,' planted in the fall of 2010?  Or did I plant a new variety of tulip here last fall?


If they are 'Fur Elise,' they look different than I remember them--actually, much prettier than last year's bloomers.   I should go check my notes, but no time now . . .


. . . there are more tulips waiting in the wings. I'm afraid the record-setting temperatures we've been experiencing will mean the tulips will fade much more quickly than they should. 


Even the flowering quince is blooming--and it never, ever blooms until May, 
sometimes not till early June.  It's all very strange indeed.


The first bumblebee sighting today on the quince was a delight, to be sure.  I know that he is enjoying this warmth and will stay around for the rest of the season, but that is not true of the spring bloomers.  Dear Spring, I'm trying very hard to live "in the moment" and enjoy each and every precious gift you give us.  But it's hard to do that when it's all rushing past in such a hurry.  Please, could you just slow down a little??

20 comments:

  1. You are right, it is going much too fast. Love your Replete Daffs! very pretty, are they fragrant too? Most of my doubles are.
    It is a whirlwind spring for sure!

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  2. I had to hurry and read this...so that I don't miss anything blooming outside. What a spring we are having. Hope we don't get a freeze now. Mother Nature...what's the hurry?
    Balisha

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  3. Thanks for sharing your beautiful blooms with us. We have not quite bloomed here in my yard yet. I love how we can keep an online journal about what is blooming in our yards on a specific date, don't you?

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  4. I'm with you-please slow down spring! Great fantastic shot of the bee! I feel I can reach into the computer to touch it.

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  5. I agree! I hate to see flowers like daffodils and tulips go so quickly. The one plus is that we're getting so many blooming flowers at one time --it's like an explosions of flowers, instead of our usual slow progression.

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  6. I am working my way around the yard going from garden to garden. As I clean them out, I find so much going on under the leaves and debris. I am not moving as quickly as the plants would like me to be moving! LOL... Love the hiding tennis ball. hee hee... We mowed all winter as the Rye Grass loved the mild temps. Will be interesting to see how long it last in this heat though....

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  7. I agree, it's all too early here too. Way too early, and I feel like you do, that I have run out of time for spring chores. And it's only March 22!!

    I do love the pink redbud blooms against that blue sky. So, so beautiful.

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  8. I hadn't thought about the fact that early spring would mean less time for spring chores but you really have a point. It was so hot at one point here today that I was sweating like it was mid-July. One of the reasons spring is so nice is because it's warm but not overly hot. Usually perfect weather to work in.

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  9. I personally think that Spring has been kidnapped by Summer, with all these record-breaking high temps we've been having. My garden looks like yours... blooms everywher.

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  10. Rose, we are having the same strange spring. I just don't know what to think. I've never had redbuds and tulips blooming at the same time. It's a whirl, but I enjoyed seeing your blooms and that fuzzy bumble.~~Dee

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  11. Woo, I'm with you on the speed of spring. Last week was the most floriferous week I've ever seen here! Now things are already settling down. Before you know it, we'll both be bemoaning summer's heat. I love all your blooms Rose - what a riot of color!

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  12. Dear Rose,
    All of your flower photographs are lovely....Spring is running wild here too...
    All of Spring is happening at once. I could have peonies in bloom for Easter...
    I just wonder what July will be like?
    Sherry, who is singing in the morning chorus

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  13. You have so many beautiful blooms right now. I am trying to move in more spring bloomers but most of my flower show is in the summer!

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  14. Your garden and lovely flower photos do you credit. Many lovely things to let us know that Spring has definitely sprung.
    Hyacinths are my favourites. I can almost smell them.
    Maggie X

    Nuts in May

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  15. Wow! Your garden looks like Maine in...May, sigh. I did see some crocuses up on a sunny street corner. Gorgeous photos!

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  16. Gosh Rose,
    Everything blooming at the same time, that is hard. My garden is a little behind, I am grateful.

    Love your bee in the bloom.....and the lovely muscari. I cannot grow it here, it is rabbit fodder. I try most years only to lose them.
    Tulips have not done well....the soil is to heavy and damp, they will have to go.

    Love your Spring blooms Rose, tku for sharing your pretty garden with us:)

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  17. It is just the same here Rose but especially with the wildflowers. A couple of weeks ago there was nothing much showing, now we have Celandines, Violets, Primroses and even the odd Bluebell all in flower together! It is a very odd year indeed so far!!

    Your garden flowers look an absolute picture. We have Daffodils everywhere but I don't recall seeing Tulips in flower yet. Every year, when I see them on blogs, I intend to plant Brunnera...and every year I forget :-(

    All your photos show your blooms to perfection and the one with the bee is really lovely. It took me quite a while to find the tennis ball :-)

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  18. We share many of the same plants! I love spring flowers, but like you I am dead heading daffodils almost before they have bloomed! All too quick to appreciate! However I think here we are back to a damp 13degrees by the weekend :-(

    X

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  19. Rose, it is simply lovely there and looks about two weeks behind us. And, think how far south we are from you. Wow! Spring has taken off, and nothing will stop her. My redbuds are already showing leaves.~~Dee

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  20. Wonderful photos! As the days go I begin to be more auctions for summer to come and transform all this white snow into water so I can make my garden a little paradise where to come from work and forget about all my troubles!

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