April Flowers

I've been gawking at several florist/flower farm blogs lately, completely blown away by the gorgeous arrangements showcasing old timey flowers and subtle color palettes. I think that I've been anxious to see spring flowers, as northern New England is still shaking off the end of winter. The grass is greening up, but the gardens are still looking pretty bare. 

It took a little bit of doing, but I was able to pull together a small early spring bouquet by traipsing around the yard. My April bouquet is composed of jonquils, daffodils, lilac, white pine, crabapple, myrtle and a red-twigged shrub that has sent suckers from my neighbor's yard onto our side lawn.

The garden in April

Can't stop the daffodils

Hello, springtime!

Well, it may be more accurate to say "Hello, mud season."

Maple sugaring season is done, and we've had some blue sky days, but it's still too wet to step foot into the garden to rake out the autumn leaves and winter sand from the plow trucks.

Thus, my gardening duties have been fairly light so far. It's still too wet to step foot into the garden to rake out the autumn leaves and winter sand from the plow trucks.

Here's an April garden report:

• I do have seedlings started in the "attic" above the woodstove. 
• Most of the tomatoes have been repotted into larger pots.
• I planted one raised bed on Saturday with peas, beets, radishes, kale, chard, spinach and scallions.
• The chickens got to kick around in the back yard over the weekend.
• The daffodils have pushed up through a layer of leaves and are showing off their flower buds.

I've been trolling the Internet for some gardening and garden trellis ideas - Homegrown.org and Pinterest have been particularly helpful. I really want to do more with flowers and groundcovers this year and Pinterest is great for alluring garden landscapes. I've got a Pinterest board called Garden Inspiration, if you're interested to have a look.