Today I am counting my blessings. Many others in Zone 5 are under a heavy blanket of snow, dealing with ice and power outages, and other weather-related problems. We have a lovely, although chilly but sunny day. With tea and camera in hand I did a walkabout, searching for signs of spring. The crocuses in the Front Garden have been blooming since Feb. 12 but there were many more opening today.
I think the thing that surprised me most was to find a large patch of White Money Plant babies emerging. I didn’t think the ground was warm enough for any seeds to sprout, but obviously it is. I just hope nothing eats them.
Passing the Deck Garden, I notice the brilliant flower buds of winter aconite under the elder tree. Today is the first day they’ve shown color so that’s another step toward spring!
Entering the potager, the lovely blue shades of Iris reticulata “Gordon” makes my heart sing. These have been open for a few days but with the cool weather they are lasting nicely.
The fall planted garlic barely emerged last fall, so I was happy to see the rows filling in and new growth on most of the plants. And lastly……
The flats of plants moved into the greenhouse yesterday are looking happy to be out of the basement. Artificial lighting is a blessing, but natural light makes a huge difference. Most of the plants are perennials (yarrow, penstemon, monarda, etc.) but there are also early snapdragons and feverfews. The ranunculus and anemones are in there as well temporarily. If all goes well, the ranunculus will go into raised beds tomorrow under a low tunnel. I’ve been working all week repairing bed corners that sprung apart over the freezing-thawing of winter, so they are finally ready for plants and I know the ranunculus will be thrilled to be in the ground.
So, six things that made me very happy. Even though I know Winter has only strayed north a bit and will probably wander back our way (it is still February after all!) these six signs assure me that Spring is creeping forward, and I can’t wait for her to arrive.
herbalblessingsblog 
Lovely, so encouraging when you start to see the tiny flashes of colour and signs of spring.
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Things seem to be popping early this year and from the looks of your hoop you will be very busy soon. My fall planted garlic didn’t make it. I’m guessing our unusual hard cold did them in.
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