Evidence of Spring

Well if the pollen, the small yellowish-green leaves on all the trees, the 80-degree temperatures, and the post-7 p.m. sundowns haven’t convinced you that winter is gone for another nine months, then stop by the Spirit Gardens to see what our babies have to tell you about spring.

There are tiny marigolds sprouts peeking out from all through the tomato beds -- they just barely have their first set of real leaves, all serrated and deep green on reddish stems. Bonnie’s squash, zucchini, and daikon rashishes are up, too, as well as the bunch of nasturtiums that I thought had fallen asleep. Do stop by and see them -- they are just behind the calendula (pot marigolds), and their two little pre-leaves look exactly like cartoon duck feet.

We’ve transplanted some sprouted zinnias and dahlias just east of the peas, although I think I may have rushed them a bit getting into the ground, and I’m not sure they’re all going to pull through. In the new flower bed next to the wall on the very east side of the garden, three four o’clocks are making do, as well as a hydrangea and of course our hearts a’bustin’ shrub. And for the companion planting workshop this past weekend, we planted a hyssop, a scented geranium, and a mint near the tomatoes.

We’ll be sad to see the collards and lettuce go as the weather turns from sunny and cool to sunny and hot -- the collards are already growing tough, and the lettuce has started to wilt and bend to the ground. In the next two weeks, we’ll probably be replacing them with eggplant, okra, and cucumbers. We didn’t get the sweet peas to bloom in time this year -- they’re a hard vine to grow in our area with such a tiny window of the kind of weather they like best -- so we have something to try again next year, perhaps a little earlier.