Waiting for Spring

Whimsical bicycle and the snow-capped Blue Mountains © Diane B. Reed

We're beginning to have some nice sunny days in the Walla Walla Valley, with temperatures in the low 50s. Up in the Palouse hills north of town the fields are greening up. My neighbors crocuses are beginning to bloom and the daffodils are slowly emerging. It's hard to believe that March is just around the corner and in a few weeks our summer birds will start arriving.

Vineyards awaiting spring                         © Diane B. Reed

It's the last few weeks of ignoring the garden before things start growing and needing attention. Time to get out in the garden and cut back last year's grasses for the new season. Farms, vineyards and ranches still seem quiet, but spring tuneups of equipment and some field burning is underway, and before long the fields will be  busy again. 

We've designed our own garden with native plants -- they're low maintenance and hardy. We see a lot of gardens with  manicured shrubs and non-native plants that struggle in our summer heat and dryness and require extra care. We've also eliminated most of our grass in the front yard, the rest will go this summer. Lavender is extremely happy here and we have several varieties. As the Echinacea, black eyed Susans and the blanket flowers emerge we'll see if any of them didn't make it over the winter -- usually a few give up the ghost every year.  We'll fill those spots in with comparable replacements. And so the season begins again.

 The Blue Mountains, still snow capped                © Diane B. Reed