False Spring

Over the past few weeks, warm weather has descended upon us. Rejoice, the sunshine and warm temperatures cheer. Spring is here! But, no, it's not. Not really. This is False Spring. Now, I know that meteorological spring begins in just under a week, but as a life-long New Yorker, I know that there's still at least one more shot of winter on the way. I joke that March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb - white and fluffy. We've had major snow storms well into April. The week before our wedding at the end of May (some 20+ years ago), there was snow in the middle of the state. Perhaps global climate change is finally making spring arrive earlier, but I'm still skeptical. (Not of climate change! That's absolutely a thing. I'm skeptical that spring is really hear.)

Our backyard on March 16, 2017

Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not already dreaming about Real Spring. I've purchased my seeds for this year's garden and have graphed out a plan. We're trying some new tomato seeds from Burpee this year that don't need to be started indoors. They are supposed to be directly sown in the garden. I look forward to seeing how they actually work. I will be starting some other seeds - peppers and herbs - probably in the next week or so.

Reviewing last year's garden plan and sorting seeds on hand.

The new raised beds are in the garage waiting to be built and placed in our garden as we finish the rebuild that we started last spring. We've still got four old wooden beds to remove. They currently contain the asparagus, horseradish, rhubarb, and chives. They'll all need to be moved and, today, I decided to start that process. I began with the chives. I noticed a week or so ago that they were starting to emerge.

Hello, you spicy little darlings.

Back in August, I decided that I was going to create a container herb garden. Over the winter I've collected a couple more flowerpots to use, but I didn't have one yet that I liked for the chives. So, this morning we went out to Lowe's and I found a lovely terracotta pot. It's labeled an azalea pot, but I think it looks just right for my chives. I hauled the pot and potting soil and implements of destruction out into the garden and went to work.

Rather than carry the chives all the way to the house...

A wonderful large lump of chives.

The chives would have completely filled the terracotta pot, so I split them into three pieces. One piece went into the pot while the other two got relocated outside the fence. You can never have too many chives. Then I gave them all a nice long drink of water. Since the chives were happily living outside before I pulled them from the garden, I figured they could stay outside. I do worry about another round of winter weather coming in, though. The chives would not be as well protected from the cold in the pot as they were in the cozy garden bed. So, I tucked them in next to the daffodils beside the house. The heat reflected from the house always get the bulbs going in this flower bed first, so I figured it would be a good temporary spot for the chives.

Stay warm little ones!

I was having such a nice time working in the garden, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to dig up the asparagus bed. I did a little reading about the best time to transplant asparagus, and this seemed like the right time. It was warned that moving a mature bed would take time and patience, so I was ready for a long haul project. 

Moving time!

I started by raking away the leaves we had placed as mulch. As I did, I noticed a strange shininess near the center of the bed. It was ice.

Why did it take my brain so long to figure out what this was?

With a great feeling of disappointment, I realized that the ground was still frozen. There was no way that I was going to be digging out any asparagus crowns today. I did try, but was quickly defeated. Oh well. The forecast has continued warm temperatures for the next week. Maybe the ground will thaw before it snows again. Or maybe it won't snow at all. The birds think it's spring - I watched a crow collecting nesting material and heard a cardinal singing his heart out. And some of the plants away from the heat of the house are beginning to come back to life. Maybe I'm just a pessimist when it comes to weather, and spring really is here. I guess time will tell. 

One of 70 bulbs I planted last fall.

Here comes a daylily!

Cardinal was singing but hiding in the yew. (auto focus fail)

zzzzzzz

PS: It did snow again on March 26. It wasn't much and it all melted immediately, but I'm pleased my prediction of another storm came true. 

A duck couple visited the parking lot at my job during the storm.

Dividing the Lilies

Finally, a nice spring weekend! After snow on Easter Sunday, I was beginning to think that I would never get my hands into the soil. But this past weekend was gorgeous. I was even able to hang some sheets and towels out on the clothesline for the first time this year. On Saturday, I had the chance to split up some daylilies by our back porch. We have two nice, large plants that were just starting to send up shoots. I decided it would be nice to spread them out along the entire length of the porch.

Before – those bushes needed to go

I have never been much of a flower gardener but I do know that daylilies are almost indestructible. This made for a fairly quick and easy project. I did Google when and how to split up daylilies just to make sure I had the right idea of what I was doing. Here's how it went:

Daylilies ready to be divided

Step 1: Dig them up

I took a shovel and dug all the way around the plants until each came up as a single clump.

Step 2: Split them up

I then drove the shovel down through the plants and split them into several large chunks. (Instructions I read said to split them into 6-8” pieces. I just split them up however looked right.)

What a lovely chunk of plant!

Step 3: Dig more holes

I wanted to put in a full row of the lilies along my porch so I dug holes in a relatively straight line. (Keeping the plants about 12” apart was recommended. Again, I just did what looked right.)

Step 4: Put them in the holes

I put a chunk of lily (very technical, I know) into each hole root side down, obviously, and filled in around it with dirt. I packed the dirt down firmly by hand. Then I moved onto the next hole and did the same. I did not feel the need to water the transplants in as it had been raining just days before and the soil was still pretty moist.

After – the line of new transplants

Step 5: Stand back, admire your work and hope for the best

In about half an hour or so, the two daylily plants magically became twelve. I’m really looking forward to watching them grow.

Three days later and still looking good

Oh, and by the way, some of the mystery bulbs are indeed daffodils.

First blossom of the spring!