6 on Saturday – 19APR2025 – Spring

Chris Mousseau

A month after spring officially started there’s finally enough happening in my garden to share six things, and to finally join Jim at Garden Ruminations again in his Six on Saturday meme.We had a nice cold temperatures and a decent amount of snow this past winter, for a change, I might add, which delayed by about a month the start of early bulbs compared to the past few years, and that means the rest of spring will be rush, rush, rush as everything quickly catches up, popping out of the ground and blooming before the summer heat arrives in just five or seven weeks. I’m also rush, rush, rushing around this weekend, trying to get the garden beds closest to the house in ship shape so that you can actually see the spring bulbs, and because by the looks of things I’ll be up on the lawn mower as early as next weekend!

First up is my new Magnolia – Magnolia × loebneri ‘Merrill.’ Loebneri is a cross between M. kobus and M. stellata; in its two years in my garden it hasn’t grown that much taller (yet) but it has added numerous bud-bearing branches and should be quite showy next week. I’m picturing it now as a warning to myself, really…the flower buds are breaking already even though we historically have frost until mid-May. That’s a recipe for disaster, eh? The leaves themselves don’t appear until well after the flowers which makes me wonder if there’s some evolutionary thing going on, where the tree thinks pretty petals are dispensable but leaves are precious… It’s hardy to zone 5 so you’d think it should know better…

The next three of my six are early spring bulbs. Hyacinth ‘Aqua,’ Narcissus ‘Tête-à-tête’ and Chionodoxa. Most of my Hyacinth are still tightly closed or just emerging, but this clump is against a sunny and warm west wall of the house and always emerge early. The mini daffodils are from small pots bought years ago as indoor pick-me-ups and then planted out. Chionodoxa must have tiny seeds that are carried all over by ants or other insects because they appear all over, far from where originally planted. They’re very nice surprises!

And finally here’s my erupting rhubarb. I dug up and shared with a neighbour a large chunk last spring but you’d never know it. I’m already looking forward to strawberry rhubarb pies! Happy weekend everyone!

30 Comments

  1. ….and I was really, a few minutes ago, thinking…Saturday…time for a post from Chris…and: nice surprise! Spring bulbs are so hardy & such a delight! Do you make the rhubarb pies….or just pick…wait patiently, eat & enjoy? Rhubarb Crisp sounds scrumptious, too. Enjoy your weekend!

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  3. ….and I was really, a few minutes ago, thinking…Saturday…time for a post from Chris…and: nice surprise! Spring bulbs are so hardy & such a delight! Do you make the rhubarb pies….or just pick…wait patiently, eat & enjoy? Rhubarb Crisp sounds scrumptious, too. Enjoy your weekend!

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  5. I’m always surprised at how quickly things can move from the first appeance of solitary wildflowers to riotous growth. While I love seeing buds breaking and those first colorful flowers, you hinted at another of my favorite signs of spring: the smell of fresh-cut grass!

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    1. LOL – I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love the smell of fresh cut grass! But thank goodness the manufacturers of car and home deodorizers haven;t caught on to that…it’s bad enough with those pine scented thingys we all used to have.

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  6. Thanks for your always interesting blog.

    It was lovely here this morning, after lots of rain last night. Lily and I walked along the beach.

    Sent from my Galaxy

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    1. I ran down to the beach this morning (Sunday) – a bit cool and a bit breezy! The rain has been welcome, but I’ll be scurrying around today trying to do stuff since it looks like rain all day tomorrow. I’m still picking up small branches in the back that fell during the winter storms, and cutting back ornamental grasses…

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  10. RHUBARB! Oh my! Not many of us grow rhubarb anymore. I still grow the same rhubarb that my great grandfather gave to me before I was in kindergarten. I only recently acquired another cultivar that is supposedly not so tart, and stays green when cooked. (I am not so keen on it yet, because I believe that rhubarb ‘should’ be tart.)

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      1. That is why I think that rhubarb strawberry pie is odd. Strawberry is so bland, and occupies space that could otherwise be filled with more rhubarb! Rhubarb apple pie is no better. I prefer rhubarb rhubarb pie, which is simple known as rhubarb pie. I think that, besides its crust, it might have only three ingredients: rhubarb, sugar and a bit of cinnamon. It may not even need cinnamon.

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  12. Very nice. It’s always encouraging when spring shifts into “let’s do this” mode. We had an early start to spring (not much snow this winter), and then the temps cooled and stayed cool (but not cold) until a few days ago. The Daffodils have been blooming for weeks, and now many other plants are emerging and blooming. Sounds like you’re experiencing a similar surge. Love your photos of the Magnolia buds. We don’t have Magnolias in our garden, but many in the area are in full flower now. They’re so beautiful. Happy spring!

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