Not very patiently, waiting.....

for spring.  It is a very, very normal spring:  A little above freezing during the day; a little below freezing in the evening.   The sap is running.  It is going to be an excellent year for maple syrup, for which I'm glad.  The fruit trees will most likely bloom just at the moment they should be blooming - perfect for the fruit farmers.  But I long for last year and the early blossoms.  I feel like a little kid who has nothing really spectacular to share on show and tell day.  No tulips.  No azaleas.  No fern curls.  No beefy hosta leaves.  Nada.

So, what do I have to tell?  On the light table, Frank's Dad's Tomato Seeds collected in 2009 were the first to sprout. These are wonderful tomatoes that found their way here from Italy many years ago.  Amazed considering the age of the seed, and having been subjected to rather cruel horticultural seed-saving practices, they beat out numbers of fresh-seeded varieties in the race to germinate.

My Puya mirabilis has started to germinate - proving the description from the Garden's North catalogue was accurate (Krystal is having a half price sale right now for her seed) :

PUYA mirabilis		puya02
	60cm  Zone: -5C
An easy-to-cultivate, fast growing terrestrial bromeliad native to Argentina and Bolivia with grass-like foliage growing from basal rosettes. Large, elegant chartreuse trumpets with purple-grey calyxes – up to 15 per stem – are held on stiff upright 60cm stems. Hardy to about -5C, it is best grown as a container plant in the north; with watering reduced indoors during its winter dormancy. Germination Instructions: Easy, warm germinator.

And to show, here's the "I put this on the compost and it didn't rot, it restarted - Phoenix Helleborus"  Sort of warm enough to clean up around it.

And for those folks out there who say, "I just want a plant that comes back every year and blooms for a long time and I don't have to do anything."  Voila:  The Hamamelis - started blooming (that I noticed, maybe even earlier) 9 February and now 6 April - still in bloom:

And, it blooms during snow storms.  And takes sun and shade.  An excellent plant.

Started my cleanup in the back garden.  I'm thinking it's time to dig up and divide the Carex muskingumensis.  First year ever I've been able to cut back the dead without hearing the plant screams as I slice through the new growth.  Same for the Epimedium.  Was able to completely remove the dead without having to apologize, "Sorry, sorry, sorry." for lopping of the wee buds as I crunched through the old mess with my trusty shears.

Two things - #1 notice how bright the sunshine is.  It really is a spring sun.  #2 notice how nice and straight Bart's running line is.

Opened up my little greenhouses to discover a couple of them had dried out completely.  Have watered and no doubt have splashed some of those - SEEDS MUST HAVE LIGHT varieties well into the darkness of the soilless mix.  Was impressed at how warm each little package was though.

So, that's my show and tell for the day - no Astronaut dad, no flaming science project, no clever dog tricks, but as you can see, there are still little miracles to be discovered in this very, very normal spring.