This year, however, we have had an extremely rare winter and we do indeed seem to have signs of spring.
For a little over a week now I've heard increased bird tweetering and nesting behaviors and after raking some leaves off of perennials it seems to be that both the birds and the plants believe we really do have Spring.
Here are a few pictures I took today around our little urban homestead. (remember to see larger versions of the pictures just click on them)
The marjoram is coming up. You can even see a few of the strawberries that migrated out of their area. These are planted on the southern side of the house.
Likewise, the oregano is up and growing.
I have a fabulous crop of lamb's ear again this year. I had to transplant some to the north side of the house last year and it looks like I'll need to divide and transplant again this year. This particular batch is also on the south side of the house.
Other herbs that are also green and growing, but not pictured here are rosemary, lavender, and sage.
Moving back into the backyard, the raspberries are leafing out already.
And the rhubarb is popping up as well.
And here is our latest gardening experiment. I read about Lisa's winter sowing project on her blog lil fish studios and thought I'd give it a try here. We bought three clear plastic storage totes and the Hubster drilled small holes in the lid and also in the bottom of the totes. We filled them with garden soil and I had planned on planting seeds in them. Ahem, I still have plans to do that. My dilemma now is that it seems our winter is over and I'll be spring sowing. In this instance they'll be functioning more like cold frames. I'm torn between going ahead and starting the warm weather crops like peppers and tomatoes and just planting our typical cold weather seeds like broccoli and cabbage.
Are other 5B gardeners seeing this trend toward an early Spring? Are any of you brave enough to disregard our May 19th last frost date and leap ahead this year?
Here in Wyoming, we too are seeing an early spring. Meadow Larks have arrived and are singing trilling a happy tune. Flocks of Robin swoop in from unknown winter haunts and are searching for worms. Yes, spring acts as if it is here to stay. Our last frost date is May 31 but after Easter, I'm putting in spinach and lettuces. If they make it great, if not, I'll be planting again.
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