DEAR MARCH -COME IN AND BRING SPRING WITH YOU

Dear March - Come in - 
How glad I am -
I hoped for you before -
Put down your Hat - 
You must have walked -
How out of Breath you are - 
Dear March, how are you, and the Rest -
Did you leave Nature well - 
Oh March, Come right upstairs with me -
I have so much to tell -

I got your Letter, and the Birds - 
The Maples never knew that you were coming -
I declare - how Red their Faces grew -         
But March, forgive me - 
And all those Hills you left for me to Hue - 
There was no Purple suitable - 
You took it all with you -         
  
Who knocks? That April -
Lock the Door -
I will not be pursued -
He stayed away a Year to call 
When I am occupied -         
But trifles look so trivial 
As soon as you have come
 
That blame is just as dear as Praise 
And Praise as mere as Blame -

-Emily Dickinson

March was a fickle month of wild swings in temperatures -some warm and inviting and others with the sharp biting winds that she is known for.  The daffodils and violas enjoyed the cool brisk days and the birds were busy gathering nesting materials and food.








On warm sunny days I ventured to the garden center and selected a curly Japanese corkscrew willow, more lily of the valley, sweet woodruff, bleeding heart, bergenia, foamy bells, cranesbill, ferns, rosemary, lavender, rose campion, monards, and mullein, to name a few.  I started my fragrance garden in the front near the porch so that when I walk out I can smell the aroma.






I planted a 'bees jublilee' in the urn and added a twig trellis for it to climb on.  All the plants in this area are fragrant herbs or perennials, with the exception of the evergreens.




In the front woodland garden my plan is to grow drifts of sweet woodruff, woodland phlox, lily of th valley, cranesbill, and ferns.   Below is the area that fronts my property.  The woods are a little sparce so I will plant more dogwood, viburnum, mahonia and nandina to fill it in. 









The little blue chair is where my granddaughter Lea likes to sit and look in the small pond for tadpoles.  As you can see I keep a layer of mother nature's mulch -leaves which I've shredded and pine straw, to protect my new plants and to enrich the soil.




I used to just tolerate March when I lived in Chicago but I feel differently about it now.  It really does bring us Spring here - even if just for a day or a week.   And while I know that April 15 is our last hard freeze date I have gambled by planting many things this month and so far they've all survived.