Spring Sighting

March can be a somewhat gloomy month here as we eagerly await spring and all the colors it brings. My next door neighbor and I went to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte Botanical Gardens earlier this week to see what was in bloom. My husband and I are still trying to get a handle on plant materials that do well here as this is a different planting zone than St. Louis. We haven't done any plant installation at our new house other than annuals in the 2 1/2 years we have lived here. We have been watching to see what our neighbors put in, and what has survived and thrived.

We will be expanding our screen porch this spring, as well as extending our back patio. We are working with a landscape contractor for the hardscape, and will pick his brain on plants that will work well with the design. But until then, it was wonderful to go to the botanical garden and see some early signs of spring.

UNC-Charlotte Botanical Gardens

Pretty as a Picture

It is cold again in St. Louis, with the temperature currently at 23 degrees. What's up with that? The weather around here never seems to be "average", whatever that is. We are always "above average" or "below average" for this time of year, blather the forecasters (can anyone say oxymoron for that word?) But my little amaryllis is blooming like crazy to assure me that spring can't be too far away. My husband gave me the bulb for a Christmas present, and it has been fun to watch it defy the cold temperatures and burst forth with blooming quadruplets; alas no octuplets here to stir the media pot. The flowers bring vibrance to an otherwise gray season, and a sense of anticipation for the new colorful carpet which will be unfurled outside as the days begin to warm. And that is something the media, with their persistent coverage of all that is negative, can't take away from us.