First signs of spring showing up
By By Jim Bombard, Guest Columnist
I live in the town of Hartselle, on a city street, not in the country, so the signs of spring are different for me then what your grandfather taught you. I live down the street from where everyone says the new traffic light is, even though it has been in service for over five years. I can follow the steady marching of spring’s arrival, with out the use of a planting guide or an astrology chart.
The first signs of spring, just after a snow, are Girl Scout cookie sales. I have not actually seen a Girl Scout selling cookies in a long time, maybe they are extinct. What I will get are phone calls from Girl Scout mothers, or Girl Scout troops, or friends of Girl scouts. There may be a sighting of a small scout flock selling cookies at the local superstore, but no little ones will be running to your door with an arm full of thin mints.
The second sign that spring is near are the very brave Daffodil plants. The long, slender, bright green leaves will push their way up through the dry, dead, brown grass at their bases to add a splash of color on a windy, chilly day. Soon after the green leaves the lovely bell shaped yellow flowers will appear at the tips, often weighting down the stems to the ground. The flowers are like spring, and they will only last a week or so. The flowers are way too close to the ground to smell, so when you see the bright yellow flowers you need to appreciate them, a cold, heavy rain or snow will knock half of the yellow bells off the stems.
The next sign of spring will be the Bradford pear trees. One day the trees will have a slight, pale green, hint of color among the dead looking leggy branches. Very quickly, seems like only hours, and the tree will be ablaze with white flowers, like giant mushrooms on a squat sticks. The tree seems to have no leaves while covered with flowers, you will not see the leaves until after you have to clean all the flower pedals off your car windshield.
When the temperature first gets into the high sixties, even I will get spring fever. I will start to work in my small garden, I will make a gallant effort to turn over all the dirt and rotate the mulch, and pull up all of last years dead plants. Even as small as my garden is I will only get about half of the dirt turned over and the leaf mulch worked in, before I will find some excuse to stop. Maybe the dirt is too wet, or too windy, or the best excuse of all, it is lunch time.
The final, most positive sign, spring has arrived, is the annual starting of the small engines. All the eager men and ladies will drag out the green, yellow or red lawn mowers, trimmers, and blowers, to try to get them to start and cut the brown spindly grass. The noise and blue clouds will circle the neighborhood peaking and falling like a symphony as the pesky engines die and are coaxed back to life by the anxious owners. Doesn’t any one remember that only six months ago you were hoping for the last grass cutting trip around the yard?
It is as it always was, pay attention to the signs, you’ll know when spring is here.
