It Is Spring When ..?.

[bower]

Well, crocuses here are the 'first sign of spring' but in fact they bloom long before anything else is safe to plant or ready to come along. Cheery to see them, but no guarantee of anything else.

Birches don't leaf out until it's really spring. Native larch here is also a great indicator - when they start to leaf, you know spring has truly arrived.

I just shoveled for 2 and a half hours this morning, and at least a couple hours left to do tomorrow. SNOW that is, not earth. I went in the greenhouse to scavenge some soil the other day - in the containers it is totally frozen solid. So no spring here anytime soon. What am I thinking, it's just past the dead of winter here in mid February! Y'all are in another world!

[AlittleSalt]

It is Spring here when one day it is 88 degrees and the next day its 45 degrees with 2 inches of rainfall.

When dandelions and henbit start flowering and the geese are meandering in the sky - Spring is getting near.

[Nattybo!]

It is spring when the weeping willow leaves show.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by AlittleSalt

It is Spring here when one day it is 88 degrees and the next day its 45 degrees with 2 inches of rainfall.

When dandelions and henbit start flowering and the geese are meandering in the sky - Spring is getting near.

Dandelions have been flowering here since early January
Willows are very soft wood and they leaf very early. I rather see flame maples to leaf.
It was spring-like today : It rained about an inch then sun came out.

[berryman]

When I hear the song of the Western Meadowlark, that's when I will plant my tomatoes and peppers outside. They are pretty dependable at predicting the spring weather here.

[Gardeneer]

I have sown sweet peas. When they come up, I'll say for sure that it is spring. Also radish sown few days ago. How about broccoli, onion sets , carrots, Cilantro ?
Starting this Friday the overnight lows will be in 40s and 50s. For at least 12 days, as far as forecast shows. That is like May weather in PNW. I used to plant out tomatoes there in mid April.

[Rajun Gardener]

I thought of you when a friend of mine posted this morning and she's 30 miles north of me closer to the Texas line.

"Frost and 32.6 degrees at 7:25 am Feb 16 in SW Louisiana. This was not in the forecast, so what happened? This is a good reason to wait a while before emptying the greenhouse! Those unpredictable late winter/early spring frosts always happen in the South. And there is still time for a freeze or ice."

[PaulF]

Here, when the Baltimore Orioles show up looking for grape jelly in the feeder, spring has sprung. No matter the weather, they are here within a couple of days every year.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by PaulF

Here, when the Baltimore Orioles show up looking for grape jelly in the feeder, spring has sprung. No matter the weather, they are here within a couple of days every year.

Grape jelly?

I thought the Orioles used Vaseline, for spit balls, like the rest of the baseball teams.

[shelleybean]

When I see forsythia blooming, I go ahead and plant my cool weather stuff like peas, lettuce, beets, etc. We have daffodils and redbuds blooming now but so far that's all. Beginning Saturday, it looks like we're in for a nice stretch of warm, spring-like weather so I hope to get things rolling in the garden.

[PaulF]

Tomato: The dirty, rotten play is left up to the Yankees and the Red Sox.

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

Actually robins are here all winter but they can't pull worms from the frozen ground so they are eating seeds and berries up in the trees. I think that most people don't notice them when they are in the trees.

Most all Robins fly south, but there are some hold-outs and they are constantly on the move around the North looking for sparse sources of fruit that is not very plentiful in the Winter.
I used to live in the Philly burbs for over 20 years ... they disappeared at first frost, yeah you might see a few around, but nothing like Spring through Fall. I also used to live on the Gulf Coast for about 20 years prior to that - and Winter time was special for our Robin and Oyster Gumbo We didn't have very many Robins until the Winter - Jan/Feb was the best.

[Gardeneer]

Today I went to our County Co Operative Extension office to deliver my soil samples .
I met an agent and talked with him and got a planting guide list. He told me that I could plant potatoes as early as Feb 5. So If I had done that taters would be up by March. If a potato can grow in that time so should tomatoes. They are cousins.?
But the planting literature says plan tater on/after April 10.
OH, well. I am gonna play by the ear.

[Worth1]

Red buds popped out way early this year.

Worth

[rnewste]

All of the storms rolling in from Hawaii are bringing us an early Spring. Cherry trees in blossom 3 weeks early:



Raybo