Cold Comfort

I take little consolation in the fact that we are setting records for cold and wet this year. If we get the promised rain today April 2011 will vault into third place among wettest Aprils on record. Yay. 51 degrees to go along with that precipitation too. Really?

But last Saturday was divine, 71 degrees and sunny, balmy even. A perfect day for what has become known as the 2nd Happiest Day of the Year. The 3rd Annual Neighborhood Plant Exchange. Friends and neighbors gather to trade starts, seeds, and plants they have too much of in their gardens. We also share our hopes for the coming garden season and of course our disappointment in the weather. Coffee and pastries sustain us while we choose our plants.



It was a huge success.
I bought home 3 tomato plants, 2 peppers, some onion starts, Sweet Pea seeds, Gourd seeds, Chinese Lantern plant, Red Bee Balm.

And the very next day temperatures were back down into the 50s with plenty of rain.

Many plants are defiant in the face of this unpleasantness. Rhododendrons and Dogwoods are in bloom, trees have leafed out. Raspberries and strawberries have set their tiny fruits. But the cool weather persists. It will have to give up soon. I'm sure you are tired of my complaining, especially if you live in a place that has real winter, and you still have snow.