Over the last few days with the unusual warming trend we've had here in upper Eastern Tennessee, I've noticed quite an active indication that we're moving deffinately towards true Spring. The creeking sounds of Spring are fast approaching, and it's choruses of sounds, smells and visual images are wrapping themselves around me and giving me comfort that once again, with or without us, Father Winter is fast losing his grip around us.
James and I were traveling down a winding country road and as he slowed down for a rather sharp curve at a particularly muddy spot, I heard it. PEEPERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My heart swelled to almost bursting as I let the window down on my side and listened and relished it. I have been grieving over that magic since losing Faerie Holler. He slowed down for me so that I could enjoy it better, and we pulled out of the curve and the moist area on either side and continued on our way.
Now I was in high alert, and I started noticing more closely that I could see little tight buds on some trees, and I'd see a subtle flash of dusty pirkle (pink/purple) as someone's older clump of spring phlox was sending out reconnaissance for hopeful true Spring sign. I would see glimpses of clear yellow as ancient Forsythia's were popping blossoms along old twigs. I started looking for tell-tale green tongues of daffs tucked against houses, and started seeing clumps of them in pastures and knew some plantings were from forgotten houses that were long gone but the daffodils still returned to tribute their previous housewife from ages past me.
The warmth that arrived like a taste of Summer was enough to fool the silly Bradford pears, and everywhere I saw that at least for here, someone had done a hard sell of the brittle things. Perfectly shaped trees were flowering everywere I looked. But occasionally I'd see a true older wild pear unfurling it's soft white flowers in a ditch or along a fence line where everyone was crowding to clutter up the property and creek lines better.
Pops of yellow started to really crank up, and nowhere did I see some old standby hardies, the flowering Quinces, showing off their limbs. So yesterday as James and I rode the country roads around here again, I started seeing trees that had their hair hanging down and the limbs like threads of green pearls blowing in the winds of the too warm, record breaking day we had (78=B0!!). Willows!! WOW, I didnt' think you could fool those standby's. But I saw more than five decking out their hair in tight green leaf buds.
In a walk yesterday from the court house downtown (I live just off the main road in town) I took my time returning to the house before our road trip, and since I haven't many signs of Spring myself, I started looking closer to what WAS showing up along the sidewalks where the old houses are. I was quickly rewarded by just at the curve, bright pink hyacinths, and got on my knees and sniffed their heady perfumes. Next to them, an emerging clump of muscari were forming the first heads of the little blue soldiers. Right next to that, Te' Te' narcissus were blooming their little teeny perfect heads off. Thoroughly encouraged, I walked past after my pause, and crossed the street to further head homewards, and saw to my utter delight, the islands of mulch around some front trees in an older brick house with perfect grass, even in late winter, and tucked a foot apart, dinner plate displays of deep,neon purple and eye-blinding gold crocus underneath both trees. I crossed over the lawn and stood above them in admiration and drank in their visible beauty. ahhhh, glorious!
The city had finally taken another neighbor's huge pile of leaves at the end of their asphalt driveway as I approached the next cross street where there was a most magnificent magnolia at the corner of the yard. Noting signs of dark plum pink at the corner's of her beds, I caught my breath as I realized her peonies were emerging from slumber and my thoughts immediately went to the pots of my own in the back yard who were waving flags of ferny dark plum pink hands themselves. And above all, the Ivory Prince Hellebore that I sat in the space next to the one tree peony for company defied me and rooted past the openings in the quart pot and upon inspection, discovered perfect bells formed and three blooming!
As I meandered back up the sidewalk to the house, the corner house has a wild spot that has some scraggly Forcythia's and some vinca minor that has little periwinkles starting to peep out. I managed I think to salvage some vinca major for my own....Yeah, I know, I cursed it all those years, but now that it's one of the few remaining plants, I can tuck it in somewhere it can ramble to it's heart content.
Everywhere I see punctuations of yellow daffs scattered about like exclamation points. Some are happy and colonies the size of dinner plates. Others are sparce and sad with singular trying to make a stand alone.
All in all, the Spring teaser was nice enough to get me rabid to the upcoming season. At home, there were dark little red buds on the Diablo, unfurling leaves on the Viburnum's I got for $1 at Lowes knows how to bug me, teeny emerging catkins on the twisted filbert that Ethyl refused to keep but returned to me. And all the tight fisted sedums are opening and showing return as well. Only one loss and I will replace it with a whole plant from the dead return to Ho-me Despot.
thanks for letting me ramble. it's good to be back. hopefully sooner than later I will be talking about replanting and making our Faerie Holler somewhere else. He wants an herb bed. I want veggies (he does too) I want honey berries, raspberries, boysenberries, June berries, he wants blackberries. He also wants Cox's orange pippin apple tree, rhubarb, I want Honey Crisp, and plums......sour cherries would be nice too......but then, I want forsythia, Kerria japonica, silverbells, redbuds, magnolia's, Kolkwitzia's, Beautyberries, Spirea ballardii, button spirea, bridal spirea, variegated hydrangea's, hostas, woodland plants to tuck here and there.....I wanna make another textured quilt not so secret garden, and he wants to build a pond for frogs.......and us to listen to water. we both want a place to have morning knosch and tea outside........it will be wonderful keeping you all up to speed.
madgardener (maddie) gardening right now in historic Greeneville zone
7a, Sunset zone 36 at the foot of the Cherokee National Forest and Appalachian mountains