After snowdrops and helleborus blooms braved the February chill, my Grandma and I began plans for this year’s garden. (I’ve written before about working outdoors, gardening with my grandparents, and the therapeutic effects of all this.)
Soon, we were planting seeds in pots to germinate indoors, and began spring cleaning, raking up leaves to discover volunteer-plants already producing delicious greens: fresh chard, spinach, parsley, and arugula, undeterred by snow! These tomatoes will go in after Mother’s Day.
During March, we turned the compost pile, put the humus through a sieve, spread it everywhere, and eventually planted seeds – here you see spring salad coming up.
The squirrels have been “transplanting” bulbs into Grandma’s grass for years – look what they’ve done with grape hyacinths!
Late afternoon sun turned these tulips into glowing flames (no photo can capture the live effect), and now, the whole garden is bathed in sweet scent of lilacs. There is Grandma (my “Oma”) behind snowy blooms of apple…