May I present you with a few photos of my garden? In which we contemplate the hope that Spring really has sprung.
The only anemone that survived Murphy, this little blue beauty comes up early every Spring and hangs out until the weather gets too warm for it. It’s a true Willamette Valley Oregonian: seventy degrees is too hot for it.
Until I met this beauty, I though currants were some bland berry that you picked in the summertime to make tasty jelly. The wild flowering currant (ribes sanguineum) grows wild in the Willamette Valley and is one of my favorite flowering shrubs. No berries for jelly, but the early blooms make up for that.
Oregon Grape (Berberis aquifolium). When I was a little girl, my dad told me this was “wolf’s bane” and would keep werewolves away. I believed him. I hope it keeps vampires at bay, too. At least the Twillight sort of vampires. I’m not into creepy, stalking, glittery vampires.
Somewhere I have a recipe for making jelly from the very sharp-tasting berries of the Oregon Grape: not terribly palatable fresh-picked, they make a very tasty jelly.
Rather than search for the recipe, I usually let the little birds eat the berries.
And the last true sign of Spring is this: my rain barrel is in place, ready to catch all those April Showers so I can water my front yard flower beds with recycled water. I’m so excited about getting the rain barrel set up.
Reminds me of a song my mom used to sing to us kids when it was rainy and depressing out:
Say, say, oh playmate,
Come out and play with me
And bring your dollies three
Climb up my apple tree
Shout down my rain barrel
Slide down my cellar door
And we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more more more more more
Say, say, oh playmate
I cannot play with you
My dolly’s got the flu
Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Ain’t got no rain barrel
Ain’t got no cellar door
But we’ll be jolly friends
Forever more more more more more
I had no idea what a rain barrel was but my mom knew what one was and the song always made me feel hopeful about the dreary days of Spring: Summer is coming.
Some day.
Jaci Dawn 
This goofy weather has the flowers here very confused too! I have some Yellow Daisy’s and the neighbor’s Cherry tree blossomed, but then it snowed and froze again. Ely even got 15 to 18 inches of snow!!
Did you know that rain barrels are illegal in Colorado? Good thing Mom came from Wisconsin, huh?
And no Tulips? What gives there?
Hey, the tulips have buds on them. 🙂
I love the colorful shrubs and your pretty anemone. While reading the words to the song, I suddenly recognized some of them, and then the tune came to me….my Grandmother used to sing that song, and I had completely forgotten it. Thank you for that bit of nostalgia.
A law prohibiting rain barrels sounds crazy. Maybe they have a good reason for that in Colorado, but I can’t imagine what it could be. Now I’m curious, so I will have to look that one up!
Oh – I’m glad that brought back memories, Laurelle. My mom actually sang it a little differently but that’s OK.
I can’t wrap my mind around a law prohibiting rain barrels, either, and I haven’t tried looking it up. I wonder if it has to do with mosquitoes? But the rain barrel I have is skeeter-proof & the water will only go to water plants.
My first rhododendron opened up tonight. Spring really is here…