It took a mere seven days to shed that foot of snow and get back to our regularly scheduled program.
Snow in April is really a joke. There is no way it can win, though it can cause damage.
And it has been instrumental in teaching this gardener patience and perseverance. If I knew the Latin for “Just wait till next year!” it would probably become my motto. Carol at May Dreams Gardens says that the budding of the peonies is her signal to hurry up and get those spring chores done.
My peonies are barely out of the ground, and already I’m starting to hyperventilate. Too much of May is already committed to other obligations, and inclement weather will take some of the rest. (It is a gardening corollary to Murphy’s law, that there will be great gardening weather when you can’t be gardening.)
The garden may have taught me a bit of patience, but it hasn’t helped me learn much about contentment. There is always more to be done; I never manage to cross out all the items on my must-do list. I still haven’t figured out if it is a cry of defiance or anticipation: Just wait till next year!
About Kathy Purdy
Kathy Purdy discovered the joys of writing in fourth grade, when she started corresponding with a former classmate. She's been writing letters ever since, first on looseleaf, then electronically, and now as weblog entries. That makes you, the blog reader, her pen pal. Her first independent (though frustrating) attempts at gardening were made in high school, though the gardening bug didn't bite hard until her mid-thirties, when she found herself mistress of a rural home on 15 acres. • USDA Hardiness Zone:4 • AHS Heat Zone: 3 • Location: rural; Southern Tier of NY • Geographic type: foothills of Appalachian Mountains • Soil Type: acid clay • Experience level: intermediate • Particular interests: colchicums, narcissus, cottage gardening, NY native plants, gardening with/for children
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Looks like your plants are making up for the lost time. Very beautiful and bountiful.
Wow, those pictures definately look better than the photo from a week ago!
don’t get discouraged about not getting enough done in the garden. It looks like you have a lot of beauty already in your garden and you just now got rid of the snow!
I’m impressed.
Twitter: @Annieinaustin
This blogger-spring is really cool – there seems to be an endless supply of Scilla!
Happy April, Kathy! What lovely little points the peony leaves make!
Annie
Kathy… I’m hyperventilating every day… I, have a week of vacation coming up to work in the garden, but it will be a wild, hectic week. I hope it doesn’t rain, it can’t rain! Your flowers are beautiful. They beat that ol’ April snow!
I won’t be hyperventilating until after the first week in May. That’s when I take my annual “spring gardening” vacation. Since I can’t afford to go away anywhere, I use my vacation time to work in my gardens, one week in May and the other in October. Of course, I never finish all of my projects. I agree: Just wait til next year!
Kelly–thank you for speaking up and stopping by.
gorgeous photos, and yes, it looks like spring. It’s so true that it’s the gardener’s lament having good weather and no time to be out there in it. I’m working a full-time job for the first time in a few years and it’s really cramping my garden style.
I’ve been quietly enjoying your blog for some time…
Twitter: @tangledbranches
Ah, early spring all over again – more scillas even if mine are gone! There’s never enough time….
We’ve had great gardening weather for months, and I still haven’t gotten my fence painted. Argh!