Spring Fever

Over the weekend it got up to nearly 80 degrees.  IN FLIPPING FEBRUARY!

I object!

Seriously, I have embraced the winter birthday.  I gave up the notion of pool parties when I was 12 and no longer had any desire to appear in a swimsuit–like EVAR.  Ergo I expect it to be, you know, WINTER for my birthday.  Two weeks ago there was SNOW on the ground.  So 80 degrees?  No, not at all cool.

Naturally the warm weather has had several equally uncool side effects.  My malamute/pyrenees mix is SHEDDING LIKE CRAZY.  Like big chunks of fur so that there are white clouds of fluff floating around our house with lives of their own.  Like furry tumbleweeds.  It also means that STUFF STARTED GROWING AND BLOOMING.  Which means allergy season has started already.  My head currently feels like an overripe melon that’s going to explode with the slightest provocation.  So my 3 month stint of being able to breathe is over.  Le sigh.

Purple cultivar
Image via Wikipedia

Yet despite these annoyances, I have SERIOUS SPRING FEVER.  It’s not like I want it to be hot.  I don’t.  I hate warm/hot weather.  But it’s made me want to PLANT STUFF.  Yesterday I bought replacement pots for the pots that my rose of sharons are in (they got destroyed over the winter).  I also found this big enormous pot that looks like pretty red glazed pottery (but is actually plastic and therefore affordable and LIFTABLE) and I really want to just skip work so I can go buy potting soil and more pansies.  I’ve also got it into my head that I want to buy a couple of trellises and plant Carolina jasmine on the front of my house (we have a big blank spot where some really tall holly bushes used to be and the azaleas we put in aren’t that tall).  And then I need to replace all the little azalea bushes that I planted last year during The Leg Break that subsequently died because of the drought and the fact that I didn’t remember to water them.  And maybe put some more pansies in the bed by the mailbox.  And I’m thinking about maybe building some cedar shutters to replace our plastic ones.  And planting some more trees.   And building some beds around our existing trees.  Because, you know, I have so much free time and enjoy gardening so much.  :snerk:

Seriously though.  It’s very likely we’ll be in this house for another year and a half, and the curb appeal needs SOME WORK.  My goal is to come up with stuff that I can plant and mostly leave alone because, being not a gardener and having a questionably brown spotted thumb (it’s not totally black), I don’t remember to do much more than water occasionally.  So I need hearty, easy, drought resistant, full sun stuff.  And full sun seldom truly means FULL MISSISSIPPI SUN.  So far the only thing that’s actually survived the summer in baskets on my front porch is potato vine.  I just…even though we’re not big outside people here in the summer (because, HELLA HOT), I want the outside to be CUTER.  Maybe I can squeeze in time to go get a flat of pansies over lunch…

9 thoughts on “Spring Fever

  1. I also have a spotted thumb, although it is probably closer to black than yours. I have sort of solve this issue with large pots of herbs. I have found the most hearty and least likely to keel-over from my ineptitude and time constraints have been rosemary, different lavenders, thyme, sage, and mint. I just try to remember to water them and they seem to survive.
    Be well and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts – it was in the 30s and 40s here this weekend.

  2. I once tried to groom a Great Pyrenees, during the Summer. It wasn’t pleasant for either party. The dog finally put an end to it by sitting on me.

  3. I know how you feel. My b-day is on march 8 and it almost always snows on or around my b-day. I also have been making plans of the things I’ll be building over the summer. Play house for kids, rooster boxes, rose garden. Maybe even put up a privacy fience. Good luck with all your projects.

  4. I have a black thumb so my father pretty much readies the replacement of our potted plants the moment I look at the ones we have at home. I mean, I love plants. They just don’t love me.

  5. I envy you now, but I won’t in July. I spent four summers in North Carolina, and that’s just a little too much humidity for this Oregon girl. But I gotta say I loved the thunderstorms, lightning bugs, and sweet tea.

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