We've had lambs and daffodils,but I look to the awakening earth as a sign of spring.There are new leaves on trees now,willows mainly,and in a couple of weeks they will be fully green.Blossoms out too...a little early as there are not many bees awake - my mother used to spray sugar on our plum trees to attract bees.There has been one shag at the lake over winter - today there are half a dozen,so the fish are getting active.Another couple of weeks and it will be officially spring - and looking like it too. Other centers will be ahead or behind the Waikato - how awake is your area? I guess for NZ we should look to the kowhai flowering,being one of the few natives that loses it's leaves over winter.I think I have seen one with leaves,but the one next door is still bare. My mother used to say - while the kowhai flowers,there will be wind and showers.
Well I live in the Kowhai town of NZ, I will take some time to go and have a nosey about the place today. For me in town, spring is the huge magnolia tree outside the butchery, it bloomed about 10 days agao and is just a big ball if pink flowers, looks fabulous. We actually have green willows up here, and the daisies are coming back on the lawn. Thank God for that, I am over winter. The only thing I dont like about his time of the year is the wind, it is not so bad yet, but I have heard that this spring the winds are going to be very strong.
I am pleased and actually surprised to report that the Kowhai are blooming big time up here. We have one next door and it is about to burst forth, but others around are yellow as a yellow thing. Will take some pics. It is early for them. We have a festival here every year called the Kowhai Festival believe it or not, October. The trees are usually finished flowering for the most part by then, but we dont usually see blooms until September.
Weeds, they're on their way back already. Plum trees in blossom next door. Tangelos start to ripen up. Courier drops of a parcel full of Kings seeds. Yep, it's Spring.
I took a couple of days off work so I could get some serious garden time in preparation for the new growing season. Result of today's work is the potato patch dug over, Mrs Oakie's herb garden created and the new garden I created when I removed the magnolia tree last autumn has been christened with the first planting of the season ... three 'Drunken Woman' lettuces. Snow peas and spring onions go in tomorow. Oh, I also spent Sunday setting up an irrigation system around the new garden to nulify the time spent manually watering. Well worth the time and effort. Quite fun too but us boys always did like playing with our water-works. Bring on summer !!!!
