The first day of Spring was this week. The equinox marks the season change, and the date was March 20, this year.
Spring brings with it new growth. The spring beauties have been blooming for a couple of weeks now, and other early starters have cropped up. The daffodils have bloomed for some, but not the ones in our front yard. The magnolia tree has been in bloom for a while, but it’s just now starting to get leaves again.
The birds are back, too. We’ve seen a couple of cardinals, some robins, and a few bluejays hanging around. Hummingbirds should just start showing up, but we haven’t put our feeder out, yet. We need to make sure it’s sterilized well before hanging it, since we don’t want them to get sick.
It won’t be long before the lemon balm takes over the little mint plot in our back yard. It’s already peaking out, but a week or three from now and it’ll be trying to prove that it’s a shrub instead of an herb. I need to rescue the peppermint plant from the bed before it does. It needs to move to a location where the lemon balm won’t dominate, so it can grow better.
It’s a bit late to be planning for the kitchen garden, but I’m thinking I’m going to start some Jerusalem artichokes and probably some chinese artichokes this year. There’s a reddish variety of sunchokes that has caught my eye, and I’ve been wanting to try the chinese artichokes for a couple of years, now. I just haven’t pulled the trigger, yet. This year should be the year.
I hope everyone is paying attention to the beauty that’s unfolding as Spring wakes up and says “hello” to the world.