As I sit here wishing it were spring, I know that when spring finally arrives, I'll be complaining about the yellow pine pollen that gets absolutely everywhere. But today, that sounds like an acceptable trade-off. It's another chilly day in north Georgia... 35F and DAMP, coupled with gusty breezes to help dry up the 2.5 inches of rain we got in the last 36 hours. We need those puddles dried up - we're expecting more rain next week.
A friend tells me that Georgia has gotten more rain in the last 12 months than we've gotten in the previous four years. I'm sure we need it, but it's getting hard for the dogs to run around the back yard. They're not exactly swimming out there, yet, but there's definite splashing going on, especially as they hit the bottom of the ramp that takes them from the back porch into the yard. I need to spread some woodchips there. I have the woodchips -- they were a gift from a friend who chips up his fallen branches. But every time I've had time to do yard work, it's been either rainy or frigid, or both.
I'm going to have to bite the bullet, though... waiting for mother nature to match my free time seems to be a losing proposition, and I'm getting spring fever in a big way. If I don't start doing something soon, I'll lose myself (and my wallet) in the seed catalogs, and wind up with more stuff that I would ever have room for in my little piece of paradise.
So it's on with the sweatshirt and yard shoes, and out to the dampness, to spread the woodchips and prune the butterfly bushes. I'll keep an eye out for the early-blooming crocuses (crocii?) while I'm out, and see if the hyacinths are getting brave enough to poke their heads above the soil yet. If they are, I'll know that I'm that much closer to spring.
Meantime, I've got new books about wildlife gardening to curl up with while I wait for the weather to change, and the yellow pollen to arrive. It is, after all, the TRUE harbinger of spring, regardless of any tales you may have heard regarding crocuses or forsythia.
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