a random walk in my garden

Good morning from New Hampshire,
Where spring has finally sprung, at least for today!

Sunday was glorious and I spent lots of time cleaning up the garden, uncovering daffodils trying to sprout through the mulch, cutting back grasses and checking for winter kill.

Everything seems to be alive and well! Well almost every thing, I lost my Huechera Amber Waves - it was half heaved out by a mole/vole/mouse tunnel. But the spirea that got run over is leafing out, all the daylilies are coming up. So the lose of one plant is not too bad; I can live with that. I was surprised to note how much winter kill there is on my red leaf rose, more than I have seen before even with much less snow cover.

Color is all over the place now. The glowing red of the Goldflame spirea, the bright gold of the Gold Bullion centranthus, the vivid greens from the lightest lime to the deepest emerald. The air seems different too - softer, sweeter and alive with sounds of bird calls. The rich smell of mud as the little one hugs me after making pies.

I drafted the 4 year old to help move butterfly bush cutting to the pile in the backyard. On the second trip, she excitedly announced that she saw snakes! Sure enough, there were at least three garter snakes and they were not leaving that sunny spot. I told her they were just waking up from sleeping all winter and that we should leave them alone. About 10 minutes later, I poked my head around the corner and witnessed a mating ball. I have never witnessed one before - it was truly awe inspiring. Two snakes seemed to be standing guard, as if to protect their privacy and I crept away.
--
Cheryl Isaak
Londonderry, NH
AHS Region 4, USDA Zone 4B/5A
growing, stitching and reading in NH

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