First sign of Spring in Chicago : Potholes !
This is the latest Spring in 15 years so I really had to search hard for some of its signs :
My dwarf weeping Crabapple is about to burst forth !
I transplanted a piece of my Forsythia from my back to front garden.
It will probably bloom sometime this week .
The Scilla I planted in the lawn last year are just peeping out.
I want to see a sea of blue ! Maybe next year ?
Little dwarf daffodils are trying to bloom.
Crocus peeping out from the leaves
This entire week is suppose to be in the 60's and 70's which means that my Spring flower show will be in full force very soon.
This entire week is suppose to be in the 60's and 70's which means that my Spring flower show will be in full force very soon.
Oh, I thought my flowers would be the farthest behind! I don't mean to be rude, just surprised. Thank heavens spring is here. (we might get some snow later today!)
ReplyDeleteYou, rude? Not possible :) Do I get an award for being the farthest behind?
ReplyDeleteForecast here is sunny and warm this week. Hooray. About time.
I live downstate, and our blooms are just beginning, too.
ReplyDeleteI love the pothole idea; maybe if all of them were decorated this way, we'd see them ahead of time and avoid them. I'm going to have to buy new shocks this summer.
So glad to see your spring is coming. Love the plant in the pothole. You are so creative. I too am waiting for that sea of blue, only ours is the veronica 'Georgia Blue'. It just can't quite seem to be a sea, only a creek.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog is is SO beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI am glad that spring has finally come to the midwest. We have had it here it seems, and are rapidly moving into summer with temps in the nineties already. Not such fun!
Can't wait to read more!
Thankfully it's warming up here this week. Hopefully you'll have blooms soon. I'd love a lawn full of Scilla.
ReplyDeleteYes, you too deserve some warm weather, Carolyn. We're in the chilly zone here so far this week because the wind is off the Bay, but it's sunny and supposed to warm up. I think my garden is way behind yours, so take comfort in that.
ReplyDeleteLOVE the pothole photo! Absolutely priceless.
It is coming along...it, spring, does seem to be taking its' time this year. Garden cleanup will continue for me with new surprised every day!
ReplyDeleteWhat a funny picture of the plant growing out of the pothole! It seems many folks are having a late spring this year. Austin's spring is right on time, but we are enjoying some cool days and nights, which I love. It actually got down to 30 F at the airport two nights ago, a new record. But here in my garden it only dropped to the low 40s overnight.
ReplyDeletePretty funny to see the thriving weed growing in the pothole! Boy you guys really got socked this winter.
ReplyDeleteSearching for Spring...ah yes, am doing that here in NH too. Not much to be found yet, but we have hope. As a Chicago native, I am glad to see you're finding blooms there. Love the pothole plant! :)
ReplyDeleteAll those little promises of spring look ready to deliver the blooms, Carolyn - bet your sea of blue will happen in just a couple of years, especially if the squirrels help you divide and replant ;-]
ReplyDeleteAnnie at the Transplantable Rose
Looks like your spring is further along than ours. It still looks like winter here. Maybe next month?
ReplyDeleteYour "sea of blue" is much larger than mine already (I have about half a dozen Scilla in the lawn, but only 4 of them bloom). Spring is going to burst forth all at once this year. I can't wait to see photos of your cute little weeping Crab.
ReplyDeleteMy youngest is a student at UIUC, so just stopped by to see what's happening gardening-wise in Illinois.
ReplyDeleteI'm in southern California and our weather is quite different, of course. It's warm (today in the low 70's) and sunny. Everything is blooming which is wonderful, unless you have allergies!
Great blog!
I love spring, and I enjoyed your pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe, unfortunately, had snow this morning! Two inches covered the ground when I left for work. It was so depressing I got myself a large cup of cocoa once I got to work! ;-)
If it is true that good things come to those who wait, those of us waiting for our spring blooms ought to have a real show in another week or so! Is anyone more patient than a gardener?
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in for bloom day again!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Oh my goodness . . . that first photo has me truly LOL! So creative you are. Sorry your spring is so late.~~Dee
ReplyDeleteI'm interested in the scilla you planted in the grass-- can you talk a little about how this works? Does it interweave with turf grass, eventually smothers it out-- just adds some color, or some other rationale? We are in the process of converting our tiny urban front yard from the scraggliest grass clumps ever to a "mini-prairie" as i like to call it based on a design as well as plants and seeds from the Natural Garden in St. Charles. However, the back yard is mostly turfgrass and it's not doing too great.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to switch over to buffalo grass or something that would require less water and fertilizer but i don't want to have to dig out the current grass, seed and then wait 3 years-- we use our backyard all summer for bbqs, parties, bubbles, etc. Any ideas you have on the topic would be great!
Also, don't know if you have other Chicago garden blogs to point me/others to-- i'm having a hard time finding things specific to our area.
Hi Rose,
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your shocks, but it doesn't surprise me. Spring arrives tomorrow :)
Thank, Frances. I tried to bring some of that Tennessee Spring with me when I passed there in February but it flew right out the window : )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mo. I'm a monkey, too. We are clever and cute : )
ReplyDeleteHi Robin,
ReplyDeleteAfter posting the Bloom Day photos I see that my daffodils bloomed. Murphy's law I guess. Oh well. This week should show a lot of changes as the warm weather finally arrives.
Hi Jodi,
ReplyDeleteWe gripe and complain and then become ashamed of ourselves when we remember that our Canadian friends have it much worse.
Once day soon we'll be seeking the coolness of the shade.
Yes, indeed, Layanee. As a matter of fact it was so nice today that my daffodils decided to bloom. I wish I could send some sunshine your way : )
ReplyDeleteHope you didn't get any frost or freeze damage with those low temps, Pam. Spring's been mighty slow in coming this year but it is most welcome.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow will be 73 and I know I'll see a lot of Chicagoans walking around in a stupor.
Yes, Ki, February was just about the snowiest in a long, long time. Soon it will be a distant memory I hope.
ReplyDeleteHello Allison, transplant from Chicago and thanks for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteThe blooms will really be popping after tomorrow's high of 73 !
Those nasty little rodents, I mean, squirrels dug up half of the scilla, Annie. Do you think they replanted them elsewhere ?
ReplyDeleteI think I'll put some cayenne pepper all around the lawn to discourage them.
Hi Cinj,
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's in-laws live in Rhinelander and I've visited your lovely town. I do know how COLD it is up there . I sure hope it doesn't take another month before you have warm weather.
Hi MMD,
ReplyDeleteI love my little baby crabapple. It's leaves are a pretty purple which makes it all the more awesome.
I think I planted more than 75 scilla but those darn squirrels dug up a lot of them. It'll be another year or two before they colonize .
Hi Nancy J. Bond,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your nice comments. I hope that Spring pays you a visit as well.
Thanks for visiting, Lin. You'll be happy to know that we'll feel like Southern Cal tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome, Carol. No one's more patient that us gardeners, unless it's a Chicago Cubs fan : )
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eva. Snow? S-h-h-h don't say that nasty word :)
ReplyDeleteHi Dee,
ReplyDeleteGlad the photo tickled your funny bone. Spring-like weather starts here tomorrow !
Hi Tallis,
ReplyDeleteThe scilla is a tiny bulb planted in the Fall. It comes up before the grass gets too tall and then dies back to the ground. It doesn't harm the grass at all.
If you want to reduce your lawn and you entertain a lot why not dig out a good portion of it and install a ground-level deck with a shade arbor above it ?
Other Chicago bloggers are : Mr. McGregor's Daughter, Rosemarie's Garden, My Skinny Garden, Mr. Brown Thumb and Garden Girl. You'll find them listed on my blogroll on the sidebar.
Is that a plant coming out of a pothole?? Only in Chicago....
ReplyDeleteSomeone in my neighborhood has a sea of scilla and it looks amazing. They're too far to blow their seedlings my way unfortunately. I'll have to post a photo tomorrow.
Only in Chicago, Rosemarie. Funny that the scilla sea grows abundantly in my neighbor's yard and she doesn't like it. Isn't this always the case?
ReplyDeleteThat plant in the pot hole is funny! I had a poppy plant growing out of a crack in my driveway, I kept watering it but one of my cats laid on it and smashed it, at least I got to see it flower before it's demise (I pulled it up).
ReplyDelete