Or maybe, BECAUSE of the snow on the ground, it’s time for a colorful Easter bunny! Yes, winter continues and the need for color is urgent. The spring wreath has been hung in the entryway, and the books on the antique sewing machine changed from the dark greens and reds for Christmas to bright spring greens and yellows. The crocheted daffodil doily my cousin made for me is on the living room table. If there were no snow, there would only be 1-2″ tips of daffodil foliage, so we must rely on artificial blooms in a yellow pitcher on the kitchen shelf to soothe the soul.
I’ve written before, and shown photographs of most of my spring decor, which basically remains unchanged each year. There is a comfort in bringing out those dearly-beloved items from the past to help me look toward the future, when the grass will again be green, and rows of seedlings will fill the potager’s beds. It feels lovely to have the power to change my indoor views, when I can do nothing about the view outdoors.
It’s time also to carry on some of the family gardening traditions. Yes, I can purchase sweet potatoes at the store, especially since I’m the only one in this house who likes them, but memories of a sweet potato rooting in a Ball jar on my grandmother’s windowsill in February make me smile. So, I carefully wash the most orange, organic sweet potato I can buy in warm water, and submerge one end in a jar. It will produce more shoots than I will need to grow by the end of May, when they can be safely planted outdoors.
Sometimes the spearmint in the big pot by the Lady Cottage door doesn’t survive the winter, so when there were a few sprigs leftover from the mint purchased to make tiny cucumber-mint sandwiches for a friend’s afternoon tea, it was placed in a glass of water to root. Waste not, want not. The jar is almost filled with roots, so the plants will be put into pots of soil this afternoon, when I go down to bring up the next round of amaryllis bulbs that are budded.
As I write this, I watch a squirrel go head first into the snow to dig up a walnut. Only the tip of his tail is visible. I’m certain he is even more ready for spring than I. Yes, I wish for Spring…but I’d settle for just a little sunshine to make the waiting easier.
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