Glad I didn't listen to the groundhog...

I am so glad that I didn't listen to the groundhog. He was just flat out wrong- or as Conan O'Brien joked, maybe he froze to death and that is why he didn't see his shadow. Anyhow, contrary to the groundhog's prediction, spring has been taking its sweet time. The trees are still brown and the temperature is just now starting to warm. I have been cleaning up the gardens and ordering plants and bulbs from the nursery. I did plant out seeds for peas, spinach, lettuces, and carrots a week or two ago. These all love cool temperatures, so hopefully the seeds will germinate this week. It always makes me so happy to see those little sprouts pop up through the ground. Three years into vegetable gardening and it still seems magical.

A few weeks ago, I posted about forcing spring by bringing branches indoors to bloom early. This is my follow up post. It worked really well and I highly recommend doing this. It has been fun watching them come to life. I bought a large vase years ago and have never been able to find quite the right flowers to fill it. Branches are the perfect thing because they are more substantial. I chose a random collection of branches, but like how it looks. My favorite stems are from my climbing hydrangea- seem to be blooming better than it does outside!

Believe it or not, tomorrow is supposed to be 86 degrees- totally wacky. The following day's forecast shows a high of 61 degrees. Weird. Anyhow, until the outside comes to life, I continue to enjoy my forced spring. Or maybe with tomorrow's weather, we'll skip spring and run through the sprinkler... one never knows.