Crazy-Time

When I got back from my vacation last weekend, the weather in Michigan was unbelievably warm.  Unseasonably warm.  Unnaturally warm.  (Of course, things have righted themselves by now -- and it is back to near-freezing!)  I couldn't wait to get out in my garden and see what was popping up.

I saw the usual suspects for very early April: 

Daffodils. . .

 

Lenten rose. . .

 

May flower. . .

 

Forsythia. . .

 

and lawn violets (some people would call these "weeds", but not me!).

 

But I also found a lot going on that's . . . well,

Unbelievable. . .

 

Hosta crowns?  In early April?

Unseasonable. . .

 

My pear tree is about to bloom?  You must be kidding!

Unnatural. . .

 

My clematis --- thinks it's MAY!

So.  It's spring.  Crazy spring.  Fickle spring.  Now, not only can I worry about the inevitable frosts and snow still to come. . . but I can also stress because I'm already way behind in my gardening!!!  It's Crazy-Time when you're a gardener!

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Bright gardening notes:

#1 -- Last fall I purchased a rock-bottom-price, clearance-table blackberry bush.  But I didn't know what to do with it.  So, I went into denial, and just left it in the middle of my new garden bed.  Unplanted.  I felt guilty all winter long whenever I looked out my kitchen window.  Because there it was.  Covered with snow.  Still in its container.  Freezing.  Dead.  And even though I only paid $1.75 for it, I still felt bad that I had just. . . let it sit there.

Guess what!

 

It's a survivor!  (I still don't know where to plant it, though.)

#2 -- Trillium are one of my favorite flowers.  I always go a little crazy when I find them in the woods in May.  Last spring, I decided to try to cultivate my own little trillium grove.  I purchased a few plugs from a reputable wildflower nursery. . . and watched them wither away to nothing in my garden.

Guess what!

 

Three of these little guys are poking up!  I'm pretty sure it's my trillium.  (I'm so excited!)