Mears Garden news- Spring Week 1- March 24

Greetings
Sorry for the delay. I had too much work to do outside this weekend to spend the time on the email/blog. I would rake for 20 minutes. Then I did a load of laundry. Then I read my book for a while. Then back to garden. By the end of the day a lot had been done. So here we go this week.

Spring! It’s here. Everywhere you turn there is something else coming up. (Except for those portions of the front parkway where I have not raked the leaves) There are blooming bulbs- snowdrops, aconite, crocuses, scilla (or squill). Saturday there was even the first little iris, a purple reticulata.

And it is real time again. The pictures today are from now. The winter contest is over.

But let me take time to engage in a little business about these emails. You have been receiving picture contest emails because at some time you indicated that you wanted to receive picture contest material. You are on that list and will get this next winter’s contest. (And I do not want to think about next winter.)

But pictures continue. The blog continues. I continue to send emails and pictures to anyone WHO MAKES THE REQUEST. So if you got the garden news emails last summer, relax. You are still on that list. But if you did not get the news last year YOU HAVE TO COMMUNICATE. Just reply tell me you wish to continue to receive the emails and the pictures and ruminations will continue.

Of course in the alternative you can just tune in to the blog by yourself each week. There will be weekly posts even if they do not come just on Sunday evening.
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So let me go back to the garden.

It seems like everything is coming up. Each day I find 2-3 more things emerging. Yesterday I noticed little lupines and crown imperial fritillaria. The Virginia bluebells are popping out. They are out of the ground maybe an inch at this point. I get a little panicky since this is just the time to pot them up. This thins them out, as well as limits them in beds where there are other things.
I am not ready to start potting.

And there is always the subject of getting more bulbs. I have this one bed that is full. It is full of stuff now. I look around and think that I can put more crocuses wherever there is bare spot at the moment. And you can always add more snowdrops.

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So here are pictures. I give you these four. There are many more in the bonus section of the blog.

I start out this week with the crocus. Purple is a good color.












Then there is blue. These are squill, or scilla. Imagine a carpet of these flowers.











Then there is aconite, or eranthis. I have them started and they are spreading quite well. I still find the time to sprinkle in another 50 or so each fall in some other part of the garden. They are so wonderful as they emerge stretching like something just awake after a long sleep.














Finally there is this chorus of little white crocuses. I find it interesting to compare pictures of clumps with pictures of individual flowers.












In the bonus section there are more aconite and crocuses. I could just take an entire roll of aconite pictures as I wander around the garden. Look closely at some of the pictures where you can see the aconite seedlings. The one picture looks like a parent with the kids. The kids aren’t old enough to bloom yet. The one white crocus picture here is the same clump appearing in the featured selections.
The iris looking thing is the little reticulata.






















































































As I have often said- if you are in the vicinity just stop by. We don’t need to be home. Just wander around and look at stuff. On the other hand if you want to visit, try between sunrise and 8 on a Saturday morning.

Enjoy Spring and stay tuned for more pictures.
Philip