Friday Five, Pre-Spring

You all are aware of my feelings about February. And today is the last day of the month-that-shall-not-be-named (except, of course, in my previous sentence). And because I live in the South, it’s pre-spring here.

Pre-spring is really cold days, i.e. 20s interspersed with days in the 60s and 70s. (Why can’t every day be 70 degrees all year round?)

Here are my five favorite things about pre-spring.

1. Daffodils and crocuses. They are blooming! Nothing is happier than purple and yellow against the gray of dead leaves.

2. I get my hands dirty in the soil. Yes, I’m weeding in 30 degree weather. And I hate weeding, but the smell of life is intoxicating. (BTW, why don’t the freezing nights kill the early weeds?)

3. The trees are starting to bud. Yesterday, I saw a cherry tree in a swathe of

burgundy—the buds had just broken open, but not yet unfurled.

4. The birds are coming back. I’ve seen bluebirds. No one can be glum when bluebirds are around.

5. Seed catalogs. I’m getting several seed/plant catalogs a week. (Seeds are cheaper than buying plants. And you can start perennials from seed. But it takes the patience of a saint.) I love looking through the pages and imagining the flowers and the vegetables on my table. Pre-spring bliss…

Here are some photos of my flowers.

The crocuses. Coming up in and around them are hyacinths.
As soon as the crocuses are spent, the hyacinths will be blooming.

Best decision I ever made was planting a gunney sack's worth of daffodils bulbs. They come back every year and in greater numbers. Now they are everywhere.