wrote in message
...
On Thu, 19 Feb 2004 12:48:05 -0500, "madgardener"
wrote:

I decided with temperatures predicted to be near 60o F today and it
already
being 61o F, I needed to go back outside and sweep and clean the dog run,
pull out some more vinca and begin to assess the spring showings. Not
that
there weren't showings already, but as I was sweeping the fallen soil and
leaves and debris westward, noticing that there were smiling clumps of
vinca
grinning out at me from between the landscape timbers that I have decided
to
replace with an idea I saw I think in Lee Valley garden tools. A brace of
sorts that holds stepping stones verticle that you attach a top piece to
make really decent raised sides on a garden box.

Suddenly a soft mother of pearl blue caught my eye. Blue?? I stopped and
focased on where I saw it and YES!!!! The first crocus!!! WOO HOO!!!!!
This excited me to the point of stopping my sweeping and I ran over to
the
Colorado bed and sure enough, there was another clump of grassy leaves
and a
YELLOW one. ALRIGHT!! Although it seems a bit late for my crocuses to
be
just beginning, I am pleased beyond description. And add to that the
fact
that I with the warm temperatures today, my Cornelian Cherry tree will
burst
open today. GBSEG Spring is on it's way here in Eastern Tennessee!!!

madgardener up on the sunny ridge, back in Fairy Holler, overlooking
English
Mountain, zone 7, Sunset zone 36



Snap, Marilyn!!! Mine are also just opening in my Scottish (Dundee)
garden - we have been around 40s - 50s F this month, and it's been
yet again a pretty mild winter overall here! I just wish that in
another five or six months I would be able to say that I was
experiencing the 90+ F temperatures that you will have in Tennessee,
although some would say that the 60s - 70s that we usually get here
are more civilized! However, as you know, the two and a half years
that I lived and worked in East Tennessee (Knoxville) way back made me
a definite aficionado of summer heat, something I certainly miss back
here!

Best wishes
Geoff

I have some miniature iris "purple gem" starting to show color, but that's
as close to anything in bloom in my yard in northern AR if one discounts the
pussy willow that is beginning to have catkins show. I cut a bunch and
brought them inside the day before yesterday, and it's amazing how rapidly
they are opening in a warm house. If they are left in water long enough,
most of them root and can be planted. Many friends have pussy willows in
their yards from this early spring cuttings that rooted.

Are you really that nostalgic for hot weather, Geoff? I love where I live,
but I often wish July, August, and early Septembers weren't on the calendar.
I suggest that people visiting us select April or early May because our
springs are incredibly beautiful. Everything seems to be in bloom or showing
color. The woods in the area have drifts of white dogwoods, interrupted by
splashes of redbuds, and daffodils are naturalized in abandoned houses and
ditches. Our azaleas are nice, but they can't compare to a four foot, dark
red bush that we pass on our way to the shopping area.

If your schedule ever allows, you're more than welcome to visit us in July.
I always have a lot of weeds that need pulling in hot weather.

John