Arlington is in the midst of its full, extravagant spring blossom. With an eighty degree day on Saturday, every tree has burst into leaf. The Bradford pears were shedding petals like snow in today’s breeze and the dogwoods have burst out in blossom to provide contrast with the redbuds.
Part of every glorious spring here is the green dusting of tree pollen…
The gardens are doing well. Even the carrots have come up, and they take a while. New Plot volunteer Sarah had weeded the large garden during the week and we met Saturday morning to finish up the weeding–mostly of the persistent sedge nut grass.
Turnip seedlings are up and those that wintered over may bloom soon.
The large garden was a flower garden for St. Charles Borromeo Church in Arlington for some 20 years, grown by Maria Chau. As a result, certain flowers persist there, especially poppies and larkspur. I like to see them mixed in with the vegetables, but mostly, I like to see that the garden has a border of flowers.
Poppies and larkspur: they’ll provide some color in a few weeks.
My own garden is also doing well, with the columbine getting ready for their usual magnificent display. Unlike Gardening Nirvana in California, my love in a mist are just sprouts, but I’m looking forward to them as well.
The columbine are budding, but the irises are just greening up.
Last year, I transplanted my Black-eyed Susans to a better place.
They already look happier!
They had been overshadowed by my trumpet vine, which took a long time to come out this year, but has begun shooting out new leaves.
The trumpet vine is lush, beautiful and invasive. The neighboring gardener would probably be happy if it hadn’t survived the winter.
My cutting celery has also returned, to my delight.
Ah, this stuff is delicious. It appears to be cozying up to some mint, though.
And Scott, who grows the most beautiful dahlias during the summer, has an equally beautiful crop of tulips. Spring is underway.
Gorgeous.
arlingwords 
Beautiful spring photos! Since you are some weeks ahead of me, seeing them is like a preview of coming attractions! 🙂
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There’s nothing like anticipation. Hang in there!
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It’s so amazing to see the change in just a week. I remember the garden on the front curve, your sprouts, and your vine. And now look at it all? And the sun is shining too. Spring really has arrived!
Thanks for the pingback. That was a happy surprise. Enjoy your garden.
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Thanks, Alys. We’re having rain, which will clean the pollen from the air. For a while! The trumpet vine shoots are so amazing, coming out of what looks like dead white wood.
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Isn’t it amazing how something can look completely dead, then suddenly (at least to our eyes) burst forth with growth? I love that.
I hope your rainfall did indeed wash away the pollen. We had a small bit of rain overnight, just enough to briefly wet the ground and to chase some of the smog away. It’s rare for us to get rain in April, and with our drought, doubly so. We take what we can get.
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What a difference a week and a couple of days make! The trumpet vine looks ready to burst and those tulips are delightful! Is your cutting celery also known as ‘par-cel’ [celery that grows like parsley I believe] I was thinking of putting some of that in my garden this past season, but ran out of space.
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Yeah, mostly it’s the flowers sprouting up! I can’t believe you’re back home getting ready for winter. I’ve never heard the cutting celery called par-cel, but it would make sense. I was at the nursery yesterday and did see it under another name, but not that. I really like it. I throw it in pasta and salads. It has a nice celery flavor and a parsley texture. You should try it in the spring. I’ve never had any luck growing celery itself and had never heard of this until a couple years ago when Paul gave me some seedlings. How are things? Have you got your house ready for the cold? Are Siddy and Orlando settled back into their routine?
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Spring is under way indeed. I liked your transplanting success
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I’m pretty pleased with that myself. Last fall when I transplanted them, I wasn’t sure they’d survive, but they appear to be pretty hardy plants.
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Wow! After all the subtle green shoots, those tulips are a real shock… lovely!
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When I saw those across the garden, I had to get a shot of them. Scott’s very much a flower gardener, except for the massive peppers he produces each year.
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I almost started sneezing from looking at those cars! Garden looks very good…lovely photos!
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It’s definitely a sneeze-fest right now!
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Hi Lisa ! It’s really exciting to see your garden again. I’m so glad you took us for a quick tour when we visited. As they other gals noticed, it’s crazy how much it’s changed in only 11 days. What a great start. The celery sprouts are interesting. I’ve never really grown a true garden but for one year when a pregnant neighbour couldn’t plant her large garden. Her daughter is now 18, LOL At the time I had planted tons of Gladiola, Sweet Pea and Cosmo to make little bouquets for the house. I had carrots, beats, potato, peas and zucchini too. The summer before, she’d had black dirt delivered that was full of chickweed, so there was none stop weeding. You’re garden looks so tidy and weedless, way to go! PS, would you be able to send your mailing address to me at Boomdeeadda@gmail.com when you have a minute 😀 Cheers my dear xK
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It sounds like your garden 18 years ago was a great success, though chickweed is the pits and seeds prolifically. I pulled some out last weekend, hoping to maintain the tidy, weedless look (fat chance). I’m excited about radishes soon (and lettuce and kale…). Have you checked out the gardens near your home yet? I’ll email soon! Thanks for stopping by for another dose of my sprout pictures.
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It all looks so exciting and wonderful! I can’t wait to start seeing some action here. You reminded me that I moved some black-eyed Susans, too, because they were spreading so incredibly and taking over one area. Now if I could just remember where i put them . . .
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They’ll make themselves known, I bet!
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So many beautiful photos – the greens as well as the vibrant colors. Spring is such a heady time. And I absolutely adore trumpet vine. My parents have one that juts out over the lake they live on and it drops the beautiful trumpet flowers into the water where they float away like tiny red boats. I love watching them.
Ah, but the pollen. Seems you can’t quite have perfection, right? 😉
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It’s very near, though. Some time each spring I smell something in the air and think, My God, I live in this place where the air is perfumed! That sorta makes up for the pollen when you’re not coughing!
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