Almost spring

I have traveled so much this spring that I feel like it has been back and forth on spring for a month. I was in Washington for daffodil time, and now it is crocus and daffodil time in Waterloo, where I am visiting to help with my new niece, Darwyn.  Put my travel to places that start with 'W' and the weird weather (more 'W') together, and I have already had a month of spring, sort of.

It is snowing in Waterloo today and it got me thinking about the great transplanting I did right before I left. I usually transplant in early April, moving my tomatoes and squashes into the pots they will stay in until I put them in the ground on the May long weekend. I always use that transplanting to tide me over until I can start handling real dirt when the ground becomes workable in about the third week of April.

 Last year on the 10th, my yard was in a fairly similar state to this year - almost ready to burst. I can see buds on things and variety of my perennials are starting to green up. My favorite of my early bloomers is my yellow crocus, which is waiting for the -11C of this week to go away so it can bloom the purple ones under the living room window here in Waterloo. I really want to pull all the leaves off my beds, but it is still getting to cold, and I am worried about die back, which happened with my strawberries last year. It is always a challenge because the ground warms more quickly without the mulch, but the plants die more quickly if it gets too cold. I always want to take the rise because I really want to see the green. It is a tough exercise in delayed gratification.

When I get home next weekend, I need to finish the last of my transplanting. I have to do my peppers, the basil and the last of the squashes.  That will completely fill my planting bench until I can move things outside to the greenhouse near the end of April. I love looking at the thick leaves of the peppers, which grow so slowly that they barely need transplanting even though they have been growing since February. Once I have everything transplanted and out in the greenhouse, I'll know spring is really here and I have moved past the 'Ws'.