By Jill Williams
“No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn.”
– Hal Borland
The first sign of spring here in the valley is the snowdrops coming up through the ice and snow in mid-March. The resilience of these little plants always amazes me. They are not bothered by all the freezes and thaws of early spring. And they’re quite pretty surrounded by snow.
I started with a few and now have many under the trees north of the house. They need no care other than to have some of the leaves cleared away around them and to be divided once in a while. I did the leaf clean up on one of the rare sunny warm days. Snowdrops, like the later daffodils, aren’t appealing to chipmunks and squirrels.
Some of the snowdrops have move out into the lawn and grow there quite happily. I have learned over the years that bulbs have a mind of their own. There’s no point in getting fussed about them keeping in line. Species crocus follow soon after the snowdrops and these are also very resilient.
A few years ago I planted Blue Pearl and Snow Bunting crocus and these have increased enough to be divided last year. Along with those two varieties there are a couple of dark purple varieties that came in a mixture. I’m a big fan of mixtures because I like the element of surprise. Crocuses, just like snowdrops, move into the lawn and also seem to have a mind of their own. Sometimes some of the lawn crocuses get excavated by chipmunks and squirrels. But they never get them all so I have stopped worrying about it.
The species tulips which bloom after the crocuses were once completely wiped out by the chipmunks and the squirrels. At the end of the day I would find only the skins of the poor tulips and holes in the garden. But, of course, with the optimism that is necessary to do anything in the garden, I replanted. The newer species tulips so far haven’t been bothered. They have been undisturbed for several years and have increased. With any luck I will be able to divide them soon.
I have learned not to be too upset by the predations of nature. The small bulbs of early spring mostly increased and can be divided; if I lose a few it’s not a big deal. Spring this year has seemed to me to be particularly harsh and cold and slow moving. Or maybe I’m just comparing it to last yea’s easier winter and early spring.
The vegetable garden where I usually plant the snow peas and sweet peas still had snow on it at the end of March. So those will get planted as soon as the snow melts. I hope that will be in Early April. The weather gods have been especially capricious this year. The pessimists keep reminding me that snow in April is not out of the question. I try not to pay too much attention to the pessimists. If I did, I wouldn’t get anything done.
I’m glad that I managed to plant a few more daffodils on the hillside by the house last fall. Planting the daffodils was just another job on a long list last fall. But they take on a new importance when we have all been through a long, cold spring. I will appreciate them when they finally appear. I’m hearing spring birds when I go for a walk and it won’t be long until the phoebes build their nest in the side porch. Never mind the cold and snowy spring; I’m dreaming of asparagus and warm sunny days.