I thought that I had cleaned all the bulbs from the front beds last fall, but there are a few tulips that I missed, as well as some of the dark purple iris "reticulata". Those have sent up flowers and it was a great surprise to see them. There is no sign of the yellow version called iris "danfordiae", so they must have been amongst the transplants and I shall look for them in the new bed. These two are the earliest of my flowers and are a joy to see poking through the snow and leaf mulch. They don't last a long time but are lovely while they are out. They are followed by their grass-like leaves after the flowers are done.

We are being promised rain for the weekend, and I will be glad to see the end of the snow. We did have a little this morning , but it didn't last long enough to do anything. One good thing about the deep snow is that the ground is not frozen solid , and the melting snow is going right into the ground instead of running off. No sign yet of the lake ice melting, though, it is certainly not safe to go out on. It's still fairly thick, but very pourous and unstable. It will be a late "ice out" this year. It never seems to be really spring until the last of the ice is gone.


APRIL 8 .... Last night we had the first thunderstorm of the season. Of course with the first of the thunder my Sami disappeared to the book-case where she hides from all loud noises. Not half an hour earlier, she had her mohawk hair-do on and was screeching and clawing at the handsome orange cat who had come to call!!! Go figure!!!!

At any rate, the grass is noticeably greener this morning and the air smells lovely. I see that the mounds of snow left are almost gone and there is a small open patch of water where the run-off flows into the lake. There are several ducks and two geese swimming about and calling. The finches and robins are singing and sound wonderful. Perhaps the ice will be out before I know it. I hope that the northern ducks don't come back too soon and find sheets of ice like they did last fall.


APRIL 15.....EASTER SUNDAY......The ice is almost gone now. We had a couple of very warm days with high winds and that helped break up the ice pack, and it didn't take very long to disappear. The winds caused it to pile up on the far shore to a height of four to six feet...... better over there than on ours.!!! There is still one large patch clinging on but I expect they will declare "ice out" to be this weekend. That patch is noticeably smaller this morning and it will probably be gone by tomorrow.

The pastel crocuses are blooming and so are the tiny blue iris "histrioides". There is still no sign of the yellow version, and I am wondering if I've planted those little bulbs too deep, since the three are usually out at the same time. The daff spikes are getting tall and it looks as though all of the tulips I transplanted last fall are sending up leaves. I've been watching that mystery rose cane and see that the buds are beginning to get fat there too. I still have no idea what it is so will be pleasantly surprised when it does bloom. I have no record of a rose in that location other than the white shrub that has been there for several years. This is definitely not a shrub variety. I do love a garden mystery!!!

As soon as the water opened up a bit, a few of the northern ducks appeared. There is a small flock of merganzers and a coule of buffleheads. I have seen one of the loons as well and the usual mallards in the bay. I wonder how they know just when it is time to return. Another mystery.


APRIL 30........Another month has gone by. The beds are looking interesting again. The daffs are blooming and though the tulips that I transplanted seem to have very few buds I am thinking that perhaps they will take a year to get accustommed to the new bed. I can easily put a few perennials in amongst the leaves till they are ready to pull out.

One of the biggest surprises is to see some very healthy poppy leaves coming through. These poppy plants were bought from a mail-order catalogue two years ago and came in very sad condition. They died almost as soon as I planted them and last year there was nothing there, and the only reason I didn't dig up that bit was because there were some very good daffs in the immediate vicinity. Now this year it looks promising for the poppies and I am thinking that it has taken this long for the root to establish. There are some pretty interesting surprises in the garden.

I spent the day yesterday digging out an infestation of creeping Jenny from the herb bed. I do like the bright yellow flowers that last all summer, but there was just too much of it. I have left one small patch that will spread a bit and so I will not be totally without it. All the tea herbs have come through nicely and I am very glad that I did put them in pots in the ground. I must dig up a few of the regular mint plants from one of the other beds and add that to the herb garden. Then I shall see how long it takes to get rid of the runners in the bed where it is now. Maybe never.!!

The eglantine rose has sent up some shoots a little distance from the main plant. I find that once these shoots have a few leaves, they also have their own root system, so I can dig down and sever the shoot from the main plant and put it someplace more suiting. I would prefer it to be along the back of the bed rather than in several places throughout. Makes it much friendlier to weed.

The buds on the mystery rose are getting fatter. Leaves there soon and then hopefully flowers and then I shall be able to see what it is.

The rhubarb is almost ready for the first picking and I am looking forward to some more of that rhubarb cordial. Check out the "Teas and Cordials" page for the recipe for that. We recently came across a sipping drink of Creme De Menthe that is not the same as the liqueur. I must try a cordial of mint this season. I have plenty of mint everywhere, and it might as well be put to use.


MAY 9 ........ I've always had the romatic vision of a flowering apple tree outside my kitchen window, and this year I have the very thing. We did trim it at the top this year and it's covered with pink and white blossoms. It's a lovely thing and I hope we get some apples. I must look into doing the proper sprays.

The hummingbirds are back as well as the orioles. I got my feeder out just in time. I've modified the holes on it so the finches can also have a drink and that resulted in the feeder dripping all over the deck when the sun heated the liquid. I've tried shading it with a margerine tub cut to fit over the top and shall see if that works. The tub doesn't seem to bother the hummers at all though I haven't seen the finches for a bit.

I spent last weekend digging up some plants to give my friend who is starting a new garden. It has made some room for new herbs this year. I'm putting in some parsely (how did I manage without it?) and basil. I've started those seeds indoors under lights along with cucumbers and three kinds of tomatoes. I'm growing some "long keeper" tomatoes again this year. I missed last year and had to get store bought all season. I'm trying some of the tiny "grape" tomatoes too. They are so good in salads...... no need to even cut them.

Speaking of the herbs, all the ones I put in pots last year seem to be doing very well, and I have even had to cut back the lemon balm already. The bed of bulbs that I transplanted last fall has proven to be a bit of a disappointment. I thought there would be more color but most of the bulbs seem to be little white "Thalia" daffs and red tulips. The daffs are pretty but the tulips have been damaged by a colony of ants and may not amount to much this year. I shall leave them and see if another season helps. I've tried to drown out the ants but not much success there.


MAY 23 ........ We've had a couple of days of rain and are most thankful for that. I am glad I left the thick mulch on the beds. It has helped tremendously in keeping the moisture in. I just pushed it aside from the growing things and am pleased to see that the worms are loving it too.

Everything seems to be doing very well this year with the exception of that lovely salmon colored rose. That one started off well and then I noticed that the top leaves seemed to be withering and dying off and discovered a small white grub rolled up in comfort there. Needless to say, he was evicted from his rosy bower, and I am hoping that the plant will start to grow again, and that he did not damage the budding tips.

Speaking of roses, ..... the "Angel Face" that I rooted from a cutting from my friend last spring has really taken off this month with two new stalks of leaves. I am hopeful that I will get flowers as well. My friend lost her plant to the winter and if mine blooms I shall return her favor by rooting a stem for her. Since it seems to be rather tender, I am thinking that it might be best to leave it potted and bring it in in the winter.

My sister visited for the May long weekend and we had a lovely time at the garden center. We found two giant patio planter urns marked down and grabbed them up. I planted a "Martha Washington" geranium with lovely pale pink flowers that have dabs of red and darker pink and purple in the throats in the center and surrounded it with petunias in the colors that are in the geranium flower. I'm pleased with the whole thing and the deck looks much better for having something that large and pretty on it. Because we get direct sun all day there, it is difficult to have planters as they dry out way too fast. The only other alternative is to move them constantly to the tiny bit of shade provided by the benches, and that is time consuming and you have to be around all day. This planter is very large and should be able to hold in the moisture much better. It will also provide a bit of shade for the plants in smaller containers as well and so does double duty.

All the seeds that I planted under lights have come up. The cucumbers are doing very well and have just got their second leaves. I find it interesting that the leaves on the tiny "Grape Tomatoes" are larger than the ones on the "Longkeeper" ones. I have some space reserved in the herb garden for the Basil and the Parsley and I shall put the tomatoes in the bed that has all the tulips. I may need to dig out the ants first though and wonder which garden they will relocate to.


MAY 27 ........It's amazing how fast things grow after three or four days of rain. It was a nice soft rain and soaked right in instead of running away and doing no good. I'm at the stage of looking at the garden under the pine trees and thinking of judiciously removing plants instead of thinking about placement. The ferns have grown up fairly high and are hiding a few things that need a bit more light.

I think I shall have to move the Lupin as well and since I have read that Lupins and Roses get along I might fill in a space in one of the other gardens with that. I believe they have a tap root so I must be careful when digging it up. It has a nice creamy flower and will look quite nice next to the Coral Rose. Since it is very overcast and the ground is so damp now it would be a good time to try moving it.

There are also a few Lilies that could come out to a sunnier bed. There is also one whole end of that shade bed that can be turned under and replanted so it looks as though I have my work cut out for me this season. I have a row of short royal purple Iris along the front of one bed and there is one patch of blue Forget-Me-Nots between two of the clumps of Iris that looked lovely this spring. Since I have lots of the former, I shall dig that bed up and put a bunch of Forget-Me-Nots between clumps of Iris and it will look very nice next year.