Solid rain...aka snow!
Even though winter has been reluctant to let go and spring has shown little interest in courting our favor, the seasons are changing. Life is stirring, days are longer, the soil is warmer, the rains less like snow – well sometimes – and more like liquid. And, buds are swelling. The magnolia tree is hosting chickadees that protest when I come around to trim, dig, or just look. Sometimes I can tell where a plant is getting ready to push out as the ground heaves up and cracks. Makes me think of how a toddler’s gum line swells, turns red and then, a tiny white bit of enamel peeks through. Then, there is areal tooth. So, too, the plants slowly push up and then, are there! Jenny’s pretty flower showed up first.
An early bloomer
Now, the hostas and lilies are competing for who grows the most each day. In spite of temperatures running 12-15 degrees below average. I rescued some heath asters from the privet hedge and heeled them in. Rich put in a River Birch and we have started a screen from neighbors’ outdoor lights with hemlocks and Douglas Firs and Norway Spruce. The yard looks different than it did last year.
I am even tempted to put some asparagus in the labyrinth on the outside edges and I just found out about “stepables” I think they are called. Low-growing herbs that will complement the labyrinth and add aroma to the experience. I’ll wait until the Indian Creek Nature Center’s Mother Nature’s Market the first Saturday of May to see if the vendors have some for sale. If not, then I will go to the bigger commercial places where I know I can get some.
Jean gave me some Michigan Lilies that I added to the entry to the labyrinth. They come from her grandparents via an aunt, I believe. The exchange of plants, the carrying forth of life, the nurturing…that is what this project is about.
1080 Labyrinth 