Chilly And Drizzly

Erythronium sibiricum

It has continued to be rather chilly and drizzly here in the northeast. Customers are coming to the nursery and commenting on how squishy their gardens are and for some this means a slight halt to any spring planting. There is certainly some wet areas in our own gardens, but we are still enjoying the blooms of early varieties. The coolness is helping to preserve their blooms and we are delighted by the extended show they are offering.
I’ll post some photos and move along to the outdoor activities that are calling, it’s 5:30 a.m and there’s a full day ahead, best get started! We are still potting up plants for the sales area, continuing to label any new varieties of plants (some real beauties!), sowing seeds in the garden and tending the seedlings in the greenhouse.

Trillium cuneatum

Peony ‘Little Red Gem’

What’s happening in your garden at the moment? Do you feel stalled by the weather? Is it squishy underfoot? What’s blooming?
In a strange way, I actually appreciate that the weather and conditions are present to ‘rein’ me in. I am reminded to work along and beside the natural world I am so privileged to bear witness to. I can engage with it but on her terms and at her pace. When I am impatient, the earth gently waggles her finger at me and says ” I’ll get there when I get there, stop hurrying me”. Thank you dear buds and blooms and shoots and seeds, thank you for reminding me to be still, to wait, to work with and not against. A good blessing for the day!

Allium tricoccum

Sanguinaria canadensis

Primula

Primula

We have had springs like this before, cool and wet. The upside of this kind of weather is that the water table is being replenished and this is a blessing. Water is a blessing, yes? Another advantage to the cooler temperatures is that the blooms on the early woodland plants last longer. The chilly days are slowing the growth of many plants and this allows us to enjoy them a bit longer. We’ve had springs that rush towards summer and cause those same plants to come and go much quicker. We never want to rush things!
Visitors to the nursery wander the gardens discovering and enjoying each little delight….a newly opened trillium, a dainty anemonella, or maybe a sweet crinkled leaf primrose. I think the gardens are like an art gallery at the moment. You stroll through, stopping at each exhibit, and ponder.
Here are a few delights on exhibit at the moment….

Trillium cuneatum

Hellebore orientalis and Cardamine glandulosa

Trillium recurvatum