Calendar vs Plants

The date today is March 2, 2012, and we should be having cold windy weather, but it is very pleasant outdoors.  I took a saunter around my house and saw that plants are popping up before their usual scheduled appearance.  No matter that the weather predictors have warned us about storms, hail and even tornadoes.

I could see the daffodils from my window and the beautiful red camellia but it always blooms at this time.  The periwinkle around my house is full of those tiny blue blooms.  A beautiful saucer magnolia is showing lots of purple/pink/white blooms all over the top and side.  Sedum (Autumn Joy) is popping up in front of my stone wall.  Dianthus  (Bath Pink) is ready to pop open with blooms.  Paper White Narcissus is up but being rather secretive about showing any blooms.  I saw the red  blooms on the maple by my shed, getting ready to show it's red wings.  The red Peony is beginning to come up too.  All of this and I still have two Muscadine vines to prune.  All of the other eager beavers on this place need to calm down and wait for the calendar to lead the way.

It is not that I do not enjoy seeing all of the early risers, I just do not want them to get the cold shoulder from Mother Nature and have to suffer an early freeze.  At least the bluebirds have not started building their nests.  They must be waiting for me to pull up the front door of their house.  I had to open it so the squirrels would not overwinter in them.  I would much prefer to have the birds in there than the gnawing squirrels.

At least my blueberries are behaving as they normally do.  It would really be a loss if they were frozen out.  The weather always has surprises for us.  When I was a young girl we were all ready to wear our new Easter clothes and a winter storm brought in heavy snow.  Needless to say we put them away and went to the Easter service  in warm and comfortable clothes.

In the mid 1960s our entire neighborhood in Arnold, Maryland was taken aback one year when Christmas day turned out to be a short sleeve day.  You may be sure all of our neighbors were out discussing this turn of events as we walked around in our short sleeves.  By the time that the hot summer months come along we no doubt will be back to our normal weather pattern, nothing seems to deter those hot humid days in the south.