In the spirit of serendipity we were cast into a world of warmth last week. Gone were the hues of whites and grays as blue skies and bright yellow sun cast a spell upon the earth below. The snow began its disappearing retreat. It receded effortlessly and leisurely, leaving in its wake a quagmire of mud. Negotiating my way to fill the bird feeders became a game of hopscotch. Stepping stones and patches of snow were welcome treasures in a sea of muck. It became such an adventure that I broadened my perimeter. I picked up trash that had blown into my yard over the winter as I ventured to the outskirts of my property. As I bent over to pick up wrappers and newspaper and windblown waste, my neighbor James jaunted by. He pointed to a dried up plant with springtime green at its base and inquired about its identity. It was a now decrepit white statice. I told him that in the spring I collect all the old growth and toss it into one of my six compost bins. He pulled the plant and headed home to search for seeds to plant. A wise and thrifty man indeed.
Plants are greening up in all the areas of snow recession. Feverfew is showing some gay green at the base, as are the self-seeded blue flax, motherwort and linaria throughout the yard. The bulbous red heads of rhubarb are boldly breaking through the moist soil. The lamb's ears, sage, partridge feather, carnations and lavender maintain their grey-green winter color and I look forward to seeing new growth. The purple penstemon and white, yellow and purple crocus are shooting out new green leaves as are the Mt. Atlas daisy and pretty pink dianthus. I took some time last week to bask in the sun and read some of a good book that usually keeps me company indoors. I happened to glance toward the area next to the south side of my shed. In this bed iris, columbines and tulips grow. Tulips? Oh my gosh ... their little red tips of growth were venturing into the atmosphere. They were making their annual debut from the deep, dark, damp underground.
As I pulled weeds from the cold frame so that the arugula could continue to grow unimpeded, I spied another patch of ten tulips stretching their necks toward the warmth of the sun. This group is on the south side of the house outside of my kitchen window. It will be an interesting bloom year since there is still two feet of snow on the north side of the house and drifts where they made their resting spots. The Telluride radio station, KOTO, reported on February 25 that the accumulated snowfall this winter was 306" on the ski area. It is in March when we historically get our heaviest snowfall. It is March 2 and snowing as I write. Happy springtime!