B E B E R E

Hope springs eternal

Hal came by with a couple more egg cartons for my seedlings. I'll start my tomatoes, thai basil and rosemary when I get home from Easter festivities tomorrow. (Going to see Ginny, Ruth and Sue in Connecticut).

I dragged him around to see what's starting to peep up - in the shady area (will need to campaign again for the happiness of the garbage cans - they're much more at ease in back of the house where they won't be crushing plants), the coral bells are starting to get baby leaves, and the bleeding hearts and the hostas are starting to poke their way through the ground. The hostas remind me of asparagus shoots with purple tips.

In the side, where I did the seed-sowing, the herb garden's showing the most life. Chives are up and looking like a little chia pet. The mint's trying its darndest to jump the bounds of its pot and invade the rest of the area. The oregano is holding its own against the mint pretty nicely. The thyme was showing new growth, and it appears as though the tarragon will be making a comeback. Can't tell about the rosemary plant, though. Wonder of wonders - the wormwood is showing some new leaves! Maybe I will actually get to make that absinthe this year (wouldn't that be fun, now).

In the front, I've all sorts of irises, crocuses, tulips seeing the light of day. The stonecrop's leafing out in a beautiful, deep red. It's going to be lush this year.

Next to the house - more tulips I planted in the "lawn," along with crocuses, snow drops, grape hyacinths. This year's going to be the year of lilacs, too. I pruned them too late two years ago, so they didn't bloom last year. Same with the hydrangea. Maybe I'll get something from that, as well. Hopefully.

I think that my big puzzle will be what to do about what I think is a sizeable ant colony in the front bed. This could be a problem. It will get solved; just am not sure yet how to come to a resolution.