Small Signs

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It's suppose to hit 40 today, so yay!
I took a walk around the yard and cleaned up the perennials. Not much showing yet. What do I expect - the ground is still frozen solid and I was walking through patches of ice and snow!

Anyway, there are a few small, and I'm talking tiny, signs that spring can't be too far away.
I was cutting back the mums and chopping up the dead stems (I chop everything into really tiny pieces and leave it to do its thing rather than shluff it to the compost) and low and behold - new green growth! Wahoo!

Both the regular and variegated thyme are looking fantastic. Here and there I can see the dafs, tulips and hyacinths peeking up. The 'fire witch' dianthus got heaved like crazy this winter! But it's looking very healthy. I even had a gloriosa daisy make it through the winter!

The sweet williams look half mush, half nice and healthy. The allysum by the pond has spread like nuts. (definitely not a problem). I cut back the sedum and they're showing signs of waking up.

The rose campion looked good all winter (of course) and this should be the year I'll see blooms.

Obviously, there's no action in my wintersown containers yet, but I don't expect to see any until next month at the earliest.

I got the buddleia cut back. I'm not sure what to do with the cuttings. I don't want to chop them onto the compost pile or I'll end up with a million sprouts, sure as anything. It's really pissing me off that the ground is frozen like a rock and I can't pull all those freaking weeds. They're everywhere!

I have a real mess of labels spread all over the beds to pick up, but I'm sure I'll be wandering back out there this afternoon to do some more cleaning. Who can resist when it finally hits 40? God, it's been a long winter!