GOD'S PROMISE

Spring came to my house today.

I'm accepting it as God's promise that everything is going to be okay.

Thank You, God!

PROMISES OF SPRING

The snow has melted, the ground is soggy, and the air is warm. Time to start thinking about yard clean up and plants and containers and all that good stuff. spent some time today looking through some container gardening books and then walking the yard to see what was and what is now and what might be.

Bill cut the butterfly bushes back. Just in time before they start sending out new growth. I hate cutting new growth. He also cut a couple of branches out of the Japanese Maple or maybe it's a Chinese Maple, don't know. There are still more branches that need removing but there is always another day. Then when I was carting all the branches out back to pitch over the fence, I found these lovely little green sprouts poking up through the rich brown earth.

Ah, I said to my self. And 'ah' again. How green, how tender, how young and fragile and vulnerable. And how much these dainty little creatures give me hope. Spring is coming.

SPRING BREAKS

It rained today in Connecticut. All day. A gentle rain that clung to the trees in heavy droplets. Tiny buds just barely bursting forth. The promise of leaf. The grass is greening. It is daylight at 6:30 when we get up in the morning. We have supper in this light of day. Our spirits lift. Spring!

And in the front yard the maple towers above with its own swelling red buds against the bleak gray sky. Soon they will burst forth, spilling onto the ground, staining porch and steps with their redness. Spring!

Indoors, however, things are really bleak. The Brugmansia that I brought in when the fall weather came on are not doing well. In fact they are doing badly. I won't even take pictures of straggly, leafless stems. They are constantly bug laden even though I frequently spray them with soap insecticide. Spring can't come soon enough for these guys. I just hope they survive.

The good news is that the brugmansia cuttings that I took in the fall are doing fairly well. At least they are green and growing. Of the fifteen, six have survived. Of the four cuttings that I brought back from Indiana, one has survived. I hope it makes it because I want to see that wonderful peach blossom and smell the intoxicating aroma. Spring is hope.