An Incredibly Beautiful Spring

This coming weekend is the summer solstice. I didn't want spring to slip by without a big HURRAH! SPRING -- you were PHENOMENAL this year. Thank you! It occurs to me that I've experienced an incredibly long and lush spring this year.

We spent part of February in Costa Rica where vibrant, colorful flowers were EVERYWHERE. It was a lively preview of spring even though we returned to some coldish weather. Back home, we had some crazy weather with some warmer temperatures than we'd ever expect in March and April. I was lucky enough to have some work days down on the Cape and south of Boston. In early April, the 7th as I remember, I attended a workshop in Hingham, Massachusetts. Typically, in early April there would be lots of piles of filthy snow. On this particular day, I came out to my car at 3 PM and my car's thermometer read a stifling 92 degrees!! I was pretty sure that driving along on I-495 would bring the temp down rather dramatically and pretty quickly. Boy, was I wrong! For the next 45 minutes even at 60 MPH, the thermometer wouldn't dip down below 89. Whew!

As I continued to work and travel through April and early May in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, everything seemed to be blooming ahead of schedule. I love springtime---most especially all of the shades of green---lime-yellow, reddish-green, brilliant green and more. The flowering shrubs in New Hampshire were bursting forth--lilacs and forsythia alike--and daffodils trumpeted their way up out of the ground majestically.

By the second week of May, I returned home and much to my delight---SPRING! Just starting! Here in Maine --- the lilacs and forsythia were just barely starting to bud. And the lupine were already tall and proudly pushing out their spires of buds. In May? Really? Was I really going to enjoy three springtimes in one year? Yup! By the first week of June, the fields and hills of lupine were exploding with color--deep purples, magic magenta, blushing pink, shy yellow, and wonderful white. Even still, it was a full three weeks earlier than usual -- as the warm (for Maine!), sunny weather continued, the local greenhouses worked overtime to get everything ready--flats of pansies, quart-sized perennials, shiny new bushes, and lush hanging baskets that needed both strong arms to wrestle them into the car and onto the shepherd's hook by the back door. And, best of all, I discovered a gorgeous bird's nest hanging from a low branch in our yard. We're pretty sure it's a junco; there are three eggs but they haven't hatched yet!

Along with gardening in Maine comes the ever-constant vigilance to protect plantings from deer, rabbits, groundhogs, squirrels, garden snails, aphids, and the infamous, disgusting slugs. We haven't seen any deer come through our yard this spring (the local 'gang' hangs out at our neighbor's garden up the street). The adorable bunny that was in our yard frequently the last two years hasn't been spotted yet this year --- I kinda miss him. No groundhogs either -- we're lucky--it's probably because we don't grow any vegetables. And once I figured out that it was a squirrel who popped of the head of EVERY pansy in one of my windowboxes, I had no one to blame but myself; I'd left a shovel leaning up against the house. I may as well had put up a little neon sign flashing: This Way to Delicious Pansies!

But THIS is the year of the snails, aphids, and SLUGS in our gardens. I did a little research on natural (non-pesticide) deterrents and so far I think I'm winning. Aphids were covering the royal purple stalks of one of my lupine. I made up a solution of two minced garlic cloves and water. I sprayed the heck out of the little suckers -- apparently, they HATE garlic. However, a few days later, when one of my lupines with EIGHTEEN flowering spires was covered with the pale green aphids, I gave up. I enjoyed the flowers for a couple of weeks--and now it was apparently the aphids' turn.

The snails I just pick off (they're small) and squish in my begloved hands. Not sure who's winning that battle.

BUT the battle I am DEFINITELY winning is the one against the slugs. THEY LOVE BEER! And at age 57. I bought my FIRST beer ever. I picked up a few little plastic saucers and we dug small, shallow holes in the garden. We sunk each of the saucers to be even with the dirt and poured some beer into each one. Sure enough, by the next morning, there were more than 20 slugs floating in the Budweiser. Today I refilled the original three saucers and planted three more foamy beers on the opposite end of the house in the other garden. I might need to look for some teeny, tiny bar stools before long; I could probably color coordinate them with the ganzania and roses.

Gotta love spring! Three times over! Can't wait for summer . . . bring it on.