Waiting for spring Time will reveal the effect of our warm winter February, 2007

Gardeners think Spring is from February 24 to April 19, and we begin our quest for Spring the day after Christmas.

Waiting for answers from Mother Nature

Non-Gardeners think Spring is when the peonies and roses bloom.

Takoma Park/Silver Spring Non-Gardeners think Spring is when the Tulips, Azaleas and Dogwoods bloom.

Still, any way that you read your calendar, spring is around the corner.

Yet, today the hardy fall Asters, "Our Latest One," are still blooming!

All the spring-like/summer-like weather has inspired for getting us outside to do whatever. Part of that "whatever" included making note of all the bulbs ascending, buds ready to burst.

Today, on the Paw Path along Sligo Creek, four-footed Binker's mother asked Easy Gardener: What will survive? Die? Live but fail to bloom? Survive and thrive? Will all those pesky pests die off? Will the early Azaleas bloom? And the daffodils? What about the fat and fuzzy gray buds (like Pussy Willows) on the Star Magnolia--will they turn brown, shrivel and fall off?

The Stinking Hellebores (Helleborus foetidus) are in maximum, plump, outrageous bud--they haven't quite bloomed (though they're a hardy bunch); but the Lenten Rose (Helleborus orientalis) is already blooming abundantly. Perhaps the fact that the blooms of the latter are hidden well under their foliage will save them.

If you raked all your leaves into your garden beds last fall, then you can feel smug that you anticipated winter by making a quilt over and around your treasures.

Please don't ask for predictions. Gardeners will tell you: Disaster is the normal state for any garden. Easy Gardener does not know what may befall your gardens! She will wait, just like the rest of you, for the answers.

"No matter what, a gardener must not feel sorry for himself, even in Winter, and no matter how great the cause."

— Henry Mitchell, The Essential Earthman, 1981

Pat Howell is a Takoma Park gardener and landscape designer/contractor. She is available for hand-holding and answering questions through Deephaven Landscapers.

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