Snippets of Spring
/Spring is teasing us here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. After an unseasonably cold and wet winter, we had a couple cherished weeks of warm temps and sunny skies. It felt like you could literally watch the plants grow overnight! Here are some scenes from around the farm over the past week or so . . .
The ranunculus and anemone are SO happy this year. I was really worried about all the extended cold periods we had this winter, but keeping them tucked inside row covers in the hoop houses really kept them cozy. I even had to roll up the hoop house sides last week because we had highs in the 70's!
The tulips are shooting out of the ground and I swear they grow an inch a day. I'm still experimenting with tulips and getting good stem length here in the south, so I only plant about 1200 total because the bulbs are very expensive. Tulips in the south may be a separate blog post - for the future once I get them figured out ;) The fritillaria persica (3rd photo from left) are getting huge, as are the italian poppies. The poppies are starting to put out buds so it won't be long now until the flowers are pouring in!
For now, we're back to the usual deluge of rain and even expecting a couple of freezing nights. So even if I'm tempted to remove the row covers from the fields during warm spells, I keep them ready until all chances of frost are past. In the meantime while spring keeps teasing us, these hellebores and anemones are tiding me over. How are you holding up? How are things growing in your garden or on your farm?
xo Niki
