Six on Saturday – 19MAR2022 – Three Thrilling Things

Chris Mousseau

I have three thrilling things to report for today’s Six on Saturday (and be sure to visit The Propagator to see Sixes from all over the place!) :

  1. Warmer temperatures = melting snow = emerging spring bulbs
  2. Germination has been super speedy for some seeds I planted just last weekend
  3. The bees are back!

First up – the first honeybees of the year! Our neighbour keeps a dozen or so hives and it looks like yesterday’s sunshine and warm temperatures brought them outside. I’m happy the snowdrops were open to greet them!

Daffs, Alliums, tulips, Ipheion and these Leucojum have all made an appearance in the past few days. Many weeks until blooming though…

While the regular thyme appears to be just a tumbleweed of dry leaves and twigs, several clumps of variegated lemon thyme has emerged from their snow blankets looking fresh and rejuvenated.

I’m going to head indoors now because I’m thrilled and surprised that all the seeds I started last Sunday have already germinated! Four tomato varieties and Big Blue Salvia – Salvia farinacea x S. longispicata. The Salvia came from seeds I collected last fall on a plant I purchased – it came in a gallon pot so I thought I should start them early. The tomatoes are from two different seed suppliers, Thyme Again (local here in Prince Edward County) and Greta’s Family Gardens near Montreal. I’m trying something new this year to keep track of the seedlings – coding them and putting the code on my home made markers. The Salvia emerged on Thursday, the tomatoes yesterday.

BBS = Big Blue Salvia
some BBS seeds wound up in a Tomato C pot..

Also started indoors last Sunday were my dahlias. I only have a few; they were stored in paper bags in my cool basement all winter. They emerged intact, albeit quite shriveled, but hard as carrots. I’ve been instructed to mist them daily and hope for eyes to appear…

Finally…spring means long lists of spring garden chores. Notice that ‘chore’ is not a four letter word; the extra letter, for me, makes it a positive noun! One of first things to be done in the coming weeks is preparing this, and a few other, raised beds for cool season greens. Lettuce, spinach and chard will be started under big plastic water bottle cloches…pictures to come! Have a great week everyone!!

25 Comments

  1. Pingback: Pink And Yellow Blooms In My Hampshire Garden For This Week’s #SixOnSaturday #GardenTwitter | Rosie Amber

    1. Thank you!! It’s maple syrup season here; we’ll be heading out in a few hours for breakfast at a local sugar bush…:) (Even though it’s raining – they’ll have sheds and such to eat in…)

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Great bee photos. For the past few years I’ve seen more bumblebees than honey bees, but I have seen a few already this month.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. How wonderful to se the bees on the snowdrops! I have seen a couple of huge bumblebees – queens I think – whizz around the garden looking for nectar. So nice to see signs of life in the garden.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. What a wonderful post. Your excitement fairly oozes from your words and photos — like that sap that’s beginning to ooze from the trees! The photo of the lemon thyme is beautiful!

    Liked by 1 person

  11. It is good to see you are getting some spring sunshine and the garden is rejuvenating. You are ahead of me with the seedlings. I started a few on Friday, but am holding back for the rest!

    Liked by 1 person

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