Spring is a time to renew, and grow with our plants and blossom. It is a time I get excited and think that I will, this year, be able to keep up with the weeds and the work that gardening entails. Time to put all those winter plans into action. The weeds come up slowly in the spring as if to tease us and make it seems easy, then suddenly the seeds that were hiding on the surface of the soil all sprout and say “Hula hoe me now” or forget it. The hula hoe comes out and I feel in charge, but then they begin to pop up everywhere and the next thing I know they are 2-3 feet tall and almost impossible to pull out. The dance begins.
The real fun of spring though is all the blooms. For several years I have wanted to create a blog where people can go to see what is blooming. This year I hope to document the progression of blooms in Boise, Idaho.
The first things that popped up in my yard this year were the Arctic Iris. I got them at Edwards Greenhouse. I had gotten them as a forced plant several years ago, enjoyed them in my house in a planted basket with other spring forced flowers and then planted them in the ground. Every year those iris
pop up to let me know that spring is on its way. “Get ready!”
Then, crocus. The crocus were so pretty this year. They welcomed me home by popping up by my front gate and along the front of my house. They bloomed in a large purple mass out back, so as I sat staring out the window, I could see them. They popped up in a friend’s front lawn. And then it began to rain and they all disappeared, making way for the next flowers; the daffodil.
I kind of had forgotten that last summer I made the effort to plant a whole row of traditional yellow daffodils along the side of my house where I often don’t go, but had some open space. They wrap around the corner to where I turn on the hose, so I noticed them and couldn’t believe their beauty when I went around the corner to see them. Solid yellow daffodils must be the early ones because the fancy, fragrant ones, like in the photo below have not yet bloomed. Half the row is blooming, while the other half awaits. Did I plan this, no, but it worked out great having the end be a little more shady and therefore allowing one section to bloom while the others wait. A perfect sequence for a cut flower gardener.
This photograph is from the Little Flower School, one of the inspirations for my farm. http://littleflowerschoolbrooklyn.com/journal/
Please be sure to check back for more information on what is blooming, what to plant and more photographs of things that you might see in Boise, Idaho in the spring.
Story Book Farm 