A beautiful day! The sun is shining, and the ice and snow are almost gone. Spring comes to Maine.

The spring clean up is finished outside, and the very early spring crocuses are open- not the large Dutch hybrids, but the smaller species. They lend a gentle, subtle color to the yard, emerging through old brown thatch.  A woodpecker can be heard in the woods. There are four different types living here- the downy, the hairy, the red bellied, and the pileated. Other signs of spring is the sound of the white throated sparrow, and the yellowing of weeping willow trees.

Now is a good time to order any seeds that have not been ordered-  and get one’s plant orders in also. With the winter having lasted so long, when spring growing starts it will start fast! Get those peas, and sweet peas in the ground! And if you have plants that need liime- now is a good time, before the next rain. Hydranges- if you like them pink, lilacs, dianthus, hellebores all like lime! For things that are starting to break the surface, a quick shot of liquid fertilizer gives the plant a boost, while solid fertilizer gives a slow release effect. Liquid seaweed for those of us in Maine is a true asset. Always read the analysis of a fertilizer package…. you would be surprised at what is in some…. and if there isn’t any analysis… pass it by. Chances are, even with a fancy name it is not worth buying. Other spring chores are pruning back any winter kill, and broken branches. If plants have heaved dig up and replant right before a rain, so that you don’t need to mud them in. Remember to root prune them to stimulate new growth.

If you are looking for an early perennial that is about as hearty as it can be think about Primula vulgaris. The buds start breaking through the ground the second the snow is off of them. They have wide pale yellow flowers that are meltingly pretty.  Their blooms seem to last for a very long time- 3 weeks, maybe longer.  And the folliage elongates to look like a large lettuce after they have finished blooming. If being planted where they will be viewed from a distance plant them in clumps of three. Surry Gardens, up in Surry, Maine usually has them in stock.

PRIMULA VULGARIS
Picture curtesy of Wikipedia

 On another note: the very sweet Shakespeare toile fabric with butterflies is down to 9 yards. This was bought on a buying trip at a warehouse, and the company that produced it is no more. If you like it, now is the time to get it, as once it is gone, it is gone!