Where April showers, even the white kind, will indeed bring May flowers

One of the beautiful things about the early days of spring is seeing the garden come to life. Now, admittedly, it’s a bit of a slow-motion process at this time of year, and especially so this year it seems. But the garden is coming to life and there are happenings, if you look closely, and as minute as that progress appears, it’s still progress in my book, especially when visible change is occurring daily.

While spring showers will (eventually) bring May flowers, I’m less sure what spring snow will bring, except to know that it briefly delays the anticipation of a new growing season. Exploring the garden, it’s evident just how many trees and shrubs are coming into leaf bud, also the early foliage of spring-flowering bulbs pushing through the earth, daffodils and tulips among them (plus a few perennials).

I was especially pleased to find the garlic, planted last fall in a new raised bed, showing the first signs of sprouting, and rewarding to know the effort paid off. If memory serves me (and I did jot it down somewhere), there are more than 70 bulbs with three different varieties. I can’t wait for harvesting time in August (or a bit sooner), although I’m certainly not wishing the summer away.

The planting of those 70 or so little garlic bulbs was far less of a chore (actually, it was very meditative) than building the actual raised bed intended for them, along with filling it with soil and getting it prepared. And all this accomplished in late autumn when it really didn’t feel like I should have been in the garden planting things as winter was fast approaching, but I was pleased to have got the task done, and the bed building accomplished.

Indoors, many of my house plant collection have awoken in recent weeks from their sleepy dormancy, some more obviously so than others, responsive to the longer daylight and generally brighter and warmer conditions. An overall deepening green, and a look about them that’s just different somehow to how they have looked for the last number of months, it’s a pleasing prospect, and one long-awaited.

Some have put out extensive growth, and many are really thirsty, so watering has ramped-up, and they are generally needing a lot more attention. But I have no complaints and it’s lovely to see them emerge and come back to life in that sense. Too many grey days and a general lack of sunshine through the entire winter has been hard going for the plants (me also). So, when a rare dose of sunshine is received, even in just brief glimpses, it feels immediately uplifting, even if the feeling is through a pane of glass.

There has been some progress with amaryllis coming to life finally, which decided to produce a sturdy flower stalk which shot up from nothing to two feet in height in short order. It missed its Christmas flowering time, Easter too, but it’s finally managed to bloom in late April in spectacular fashion, and better late than never.

Several of the clivias decided to flower too, although not to the extent of past years, but I am enjoying some indoor orange colour.

My recent garden wander, while warmer than it has been lately, doesn’t yet feel like spring, nor sound like spring, and yet it almost feels like its almost present, about to emerge and do its thing, but maybe still a tad reluctant.

My observations found a few yellow early crocus in flower in the lawn, looking a bit drenched by persistent rain, then blooming purple crocus which come a bit later than the yellow variety. Also, daffodil flower buds appearing and now swelling where there were none just a few days ago.

I also happened upon two pots of chives (garlic, I think) hiding under sodden leaf matter but in fine form and good enough to eat. I am always astonished at how this first crop of the year is always reliably available so early in the spring, where the idea of snipping a few fresh chives for a spring salad brings a sense of joy – and encouragement.

Some of the perennial herbs are also looking astonishingly lush, and ready for use, including thyme and oregano. And as I uncovered and discovered pots of things, unknown things, some growing, some yet to emerge, I appreciate the early progress, and these early days of springtime.

It feels like progress when cold rain is replaced by almost warm rain showers. As slow as things appear right now, as I yearn for sunshine and a little more warmth to fill the chilly air, there is change happening constantly in the garden, noticeably evident with each passing day now. Not least, the joy of seeing swelling leaf buds on many of the trees and shrubs, including a big stand of lilacs, bringing the promise of something special to come in the weeks ahead.

Click here for more gardening columns by Sharon Harrison 

-A gardener all her adult life, and much of her childhood, Sharon Harrison blames her parents for this predicament, both of whom are life-long gardeners and growers of good things, nonetheless grateful for the gardening genes, and the growing passion.

While she has written on countless topics over many years for numerous publications and media, her heart remains rooted in her Prince Edward County garden as a grower of beautiful, strange and sometimes ordinary things, inspired and influenced by nature, wildlife and the fragility of environment.