Our Fickle Spring
As has been recorded in this blog and elsewhere, the winter just past has been remarkable for the variety of weather conditions it has produced. The spring which followed three weeks ago has already shown a tendency to similar fluctuations.
Just a day or so ago, as a gardener was busy clearing away bits of winter debris, she noted a clump of Scilla emerging from under a cover of oak leaves. Delighted with the discovery, the gardener also noted that the plants now needed a good dose of moisture to grow to their full potential, but her silent plea was for rain, not snow!
What with Easter and Passover arriving on the same weekend this year, we’d rather hoped that, in the spirit of coming together, Mother Nature would be onside too. Alas, Spring went AWOL as a freak snowstorm blanketed much of Atlantic Canada overnight Saturday and into Sunday morning. The lovely deep blue flowers of a Dutch iris are struggling to stay above the snow cover in the photo above (thanks, Sylvia). This particular variety, “Eye of the Tiger”, is a deciduous hybrid that flowers early in April and is tolerant of dry soil conditions.
Next we see the pink blooms of a heather that has been almost buried under the recent snow.
Although many parts of Eastern Canada were walloped with snow and high winds, Chester’s gardens received only about 4 cms of the white stuff. Then, in keeping with its fickle nature, Spring reversed the trend. Within 24 hours the ephemeral snowstorm was history. By Sunday evening, hardly a trace of snow remained. Unfazed by the fickle weather, Chester gardeners paid homage to the season in the time-honoured tradition of enjoying bouquets of colourful tulips indoors.