Here in Minnesota, before we traveled to Columbus, only a few of our daffies had broken ground, so we postponed our show by 2 weeks. When we returned from Columbus there was fresh snow on the ground, but it melted. Today/Thursday, we got another 6 inches, with more still coming over night. It’s what we call a “heart attack” snow – heavy and full of moisture. Somewhere under this mess are daffodils that would love to come up and bloom. I’m starting to think we’ll be lucky to have many blooms even for our delayed show (May 17-18-19). Unbelievable! The first photo shows my coldframe, where I grow minis, and the second used to be a vegetable garden but has long-since become rows of daffies. It will be awhile before those come up. Sigh…. Margaret Macneale (PS: I’m still trying to figure out how to add photos – hope this works!)
I received this cartoon a month ago when most of us in Minnesota had already had our fill of winter and here we are 30 days later still struggling with ongoing, significant snow accumulation again yesterday morning. The endless winter! I don’t ever remember it being this long nor April this cold and snowy but they say back in the ’60’s… Six days in and enroute to Columbus for the convention was a delightful & welcome break of color!
I’ve actually been enjoying a number of species/snow crocus and Snow Drops/Galanthus in bloom since April 6th; they just close up tight with each successive snowfall. The naturalized Pushkinia and Siberian Squill are not quite as brave but a great many bud-laden stems await that first warm day and more of the early Humulis Tulips are visible after each snow melt back. The daffodils aren’t too far behind but need to pick up the pace a bit if there are to be many at our rescheduled show in 3 weeks. There is foliage showing in all my beds; many almost 3-4″ tall in my sunny, early border but nary a bud yet to be seen. It hit 50F today for only the 4th time this spring. We’ve been promised 60+ on Friday and 70’sF on Saturday and Sunday and into the following week. We’re positively giddy with anticipation! Shorts, tank tops and flip flops have been pulled from storage and await Saturday morning when we can poke and prod and remove more of the winter mulch cover, or go for a bike ride or a walk or just sit and bask in it. Hmmmm, I’ve lots of PTO/vacation time; maybe Friday needs to be a sick day! Suspect many of us will be sporting sun burns on Monday when we return to work.