Posted on by Donna

As Winter Yields, and Spring Sighs

“Your time has come, now hasten little snowflakes. To vanish quite away; The spring-tide hours are sounding gentle warnings, forbidding you to stay.” 

~M.E. Hathaway

 

 

As March rolls around, in the Northern hemisphere, gardeners ready for spring.  To say we are ‘chomping at the bit’, is an understatement.  We tire of winter, the cold and snow.  We want to get our hands in the dirt, observe the growth that is starting, see colors like green, and clean up the garden.  And those lucky enough to have a warm March begin to plant.

But I am a realist, and know my March is unlike many.  It is variable moving from spring-like temperatures to snow storms….like a pendulum swinging wildly never seeing a steady balance.  And so it was as March began this past week.  We were warned, but we hoped the warnings were overzealous.  February had been kind.  Many warm thaws with some temps in the 60s and 70s, most days above normal in the 40s.  Maybe this March, winter would fade easily to spring.

 

 

No such luck as they say.  We had a whopper of a storm….an inch of rain, followed by ice, followed by a foot and a half of heavy, wet snow…all in 24 hours.  Winter was nudging me gently in February saying it was time to go soon.  But I think he felt under appreciated, perhaps, and had to throw himself one heck of a going away party.

 

 

This male robin, who returns every year to claim our garden as his spring-summer home, was a bit surprised and miffed by all the snow….he didn’t want to believe the forecast either. 

 

 

There are definite signs that winter is leaving that I observe each year.  Not the glaring signs like the many songbirds returning or bulbs blooming.  No, the signs of spring I am referring to are more subtle…and they can happen almost overnight in my garden.  When these signs appear I know spring is sighing, letting me know she will be along soon.  

 

 

Signs like the pond thawing and thinning….its ice cover, moving away from the banks and opening up….

 

 

the ground softening and yielding no longer held by winter’s icy grip as it allows the snowy melt to be absorbed…

 

 

year-long resident songbirds, like finches and this red cardinal, begin to sing again welcoming spring’s little whispers….

 

 

snowdrops pop up forming buds, yearning to bloom….

 

 

other very early bulbs begin to peek out and bravely push up a bit, like these snow crocus….

 

 

and daffodils.

 

 

A bit of a let down all this snow, but I know it will melt, and winter will yield finally to spring.  With the bolder signs of spring not here yet, I will have to be patient a bit longer with winter.  

 

Has spring appeared in your garden?  Do you have signs that whisper or shout spring’s arrival?

 

 

Colorful Indoor Vases

 

Luckily I have had late blooms indoors to cut for a vase or two as we await spring flowers. This is another ‘Zombie’ hippeastrum bloom with some straggler paperwhites.

 

 

I enjoyed moving this vase around to bring its beauty to different spots. 

 

 

One last ‘Zombie’ bloom capturing the waning light, floating in this lovely cup and saucer.

 

 

And again displayed in the early afternoon light.

While these blooms are from a few weeks ago, I didn’t want to miss showing them to you as they were so lovely and faded only recently. 

 

I am joining Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful In A Vase on Monday meme. The pictures shared here were created with my iPod Touch camera and two free apps, Pixlr and Prisma.

I am posting poetry, almost weekly on Sundays, on my other blog, Living From Happiness.  You can read my latest poem here.

All original content is copyrighted and the sole property of Donna Donabella @ Gardens Eye View, 2010-2018.  Any reprints or use of content or photos is by permission only.

44 Replies to “As Winter Yields, and Spring Sighs”

  1. Glad you have indoor flowers to keep you company as the winter recedes. You must be keeping a close eye on the snowdrops.

    1. Once those snowdrops thaw and are uncovered again, I will be watching them with anticipation. They will bloom quickly once we warm again. Sadly we have another winter storm coming so it won’t be for a couple of weeks at least!

  2. It may seem a bit ridiculous but there are subtle signs of spring in FL as well and it makes me just as giddy as when I endured the North winters. I don’t appreciate the argument “that people need seasons” because there are definitely seasons here. I am glad that Spring is finally starting to flex for you … know how long that wait can seem. Enjoy!

    1. Not ridiculous at all Kathy. Pretty much everywhere the seasons or some facimile show up, and we learn their cycles. It may be some people like the extreme nature of seasons up North or they like the snowy winters, although they do get old after a few months as you know. The most recent storm dumped a foot and a half on us so we will wait for spring to arrive for a bit longer…..a new storm is coming at the end of the week but I hope we only get a few inches.

      The ground is warming under that snow and the sun is warmer so the melt may be faster than I think! Fingers crossed….

  3. Oh Donna, as always your photographs are magnificent, and you use those apps to create absolute works of art with them. I did download one of them myself but haven’t played arond with it properly yet

  5. Begone old man winter! Our late freeze and snow finally cleared up and it seems as if spring is asserting herself. Your images are always gorgeous and inspiring. Love your arrangements & can almost smell the paperwhites from here.

  6. ‘Zombie’ is wonderful! I have to look for that one.

    While I’m sure the return of the cold, wet stuff was miserable, it looks beautiful in your photos. I loved the photos of the robin and the squirrel. We got a little winter rain, much delayed, but spring is clearly on the way here.

    1. Thanks Kris….the sun is out melting us slowly so I am excited, but I know another storm is coming…I ordered my Hippeastrum bulbs from John Scheepers this year and could not be more pleased with their performance and the prices.

    1. I heard you had crazy weather there Alistair. The snowdrops thankfully had not bloomed when they were buried. Hoping they can get a chance to bloom soon but they will have to wait under the snow as we are scheduled to get more snow by weeks end.

  8. Your Zombie hippeastrum is weird and wonderful – worthy of the name. Surely Spring will arrive in your garden any day now!

    1. Sadly no spring is a ways off as we have another storm coming at the end of the week….but our spring is filled with cold and snow in the beginning. I await the first blooms and songbirds return and then I know spring is here.

  10. I’m anxious for spring too and our winter is no-where as severe as yours. I was thrilled to see the grass again after 48 hours of snow! I hope yours is really melting and you can get your hands dirty soon.
    Your blooms have lasted so well, they really are a joy.

  11. Lovely post and as usual beautiful pictures. What a good idea to display your hippeastrum so prettily in a cup rather than looking down from its long giraffe neck.

  12. Our snowstorm came quickly and departed quickly but it’s still cold and I am so ready for winter to be over. The plants in the greenhouse are getting a lot more attention than they’re used to.
    We must both be patient!

    1. I wish I had a greenhouse especially during winter. More snow this weekend but it has to end sometime soon. I am working on patience too!

  13. Oh Donna it’s intriguing to read that you have had temperatures in the 60s and 70s followed by all that snow! Here it has still to reach those dizzy heights when it comes to temperature. Fabulous photos especially that robin which looks as if it could be an illustration. I hope that spring is not so far away for both of us.

    1. Yes we can have these wild temperature swings in winter or any season….but I doubt we will see them in March! I think we both may see spring soon.

  14. This was a beautiful post, Donna! No, spring is not here yet. Like you, we had some warm days, but winter is back again tonight with 1-4 inches of snow in the forecast. Still, that will melt fast this time of year. 30s and 40s for the foreseeable forecast, which is “normal.” That’s OK. I’m just happy to be done with the subzero “polar vortex” stuff! Happy spring!

    1. Thanks Beth…..the storm out your way is headed here but not expected to hit here. Instead we will get lake effect…..I hope they are wrong and it misses us too.

  15. Excellent photographs. We are getting what could be a couple of inches tonight but after seeing your snowfall I won’t complain (much).

  18. I remember waiting for spring in March from when we lived in Massachusetts. When we moved to the Seattle area, I was so surprised to find that spring arrives in the PNW in February! I hope you can get out there soon, so you can stop chomping and start getting some cleanup and work done. Love the Amaryllis flower in your vase today.

    1. Thanks Alison. It will take weeks for melt and more for a dry out. I need sunny warm days so maybe in April at the rate the weather and storms are rolling through.

  20. A lovely Hippeastrum. Where would we be without these pretty winter blooms Donna. Spring is taking its time here too. But gardeners are patient and we will enjoy it all the more when it finally arrives! 🙂

    1. Thanks Lee. The pictures were from last Friday’s storm that dumped 1.5 feet. Half of it is still here and we are getting the after effects of yesterday’s storm in lake effect snow tomorrow. Looks like spring will be delayed by weeks. Glad yours is melting.

  22. Donna, I love your dreamy images of a snow-bound garden, but I appreciate how much you must look forward to spring. I am glad spring is finally beginning to push its way past the remains of your winter. We are well into spring here, but we have had a couple of nights of sub-freezing temps, and a lot of those tender buds have been zapped. Sigh…it happens every year here.

    1. Seems winter has reasserted itself and is predicted to last through much of March. Lots more snow covered us again. Sigh….glad you have spring.

Comments are closed.