Early Spring
Flat, gray skies spread out in front of me. Right on track for spring. Also right on track are weather anomalies. We had two record-breaking warm days last week - Portland hit 81 degrees. In March! While slightly cooler out here in Columbia County, you get the idea. That burst of heat, perhaps indicative of a changing climate, was still a three-day sunshine celebration to get outside. Plants were jump-started into their "green dot phase" as I call it - brown branches are suddenly covered with little green dots and don't look quite as forlorn. Flowering currants are in charge and are ahead of the game being in both in full leaf and flower. The hummingbirds are happy. I know sunshine shall return in full force very soon, so gray skies or sun, the garden makes me happy, too. It's time for a look around in late March and early April here at Chickadee Gardens: Ribes sanguineum , flowering currant, now large multi-stemmed shrubs throughout the hedgerows and shady areas of m...
