After several days of bitter cold nights, the forecast is finally improving.  The sun is shining, there's no blustery wind, and the robins are busy pulling worms from the lawn.  The flowers that I fussed over the past few frosty nights are still perfect, thank goodness.  I think I can finally begin cleaning gardens, removing old foliage, blown in leaves, and trimming old stems.  It should be a great day!

     We've stuffed the coldframe with plants, but I think I can move more perennials outdoors.  Although the forecast is for rain (and apparently a real duck drowner!) we just have to have more space, so some hardy plants will just have to tough it outdoors in the real world.  Then we can move lots more plants over from the greenhouse.  The coldframe is lovely right now, with pansy flowers in full bloom, primroses just opening their buds, and some dwarf forsythia and fruit trees in full bloom.  It definitely looks like it should be Easter weekend!

     The bouquet of hellebores I picked for Hedgehog and Hellebore day still looks beautiful.  That's another reason I love hellebores so much.  Not only have they been blooming in the garden for over three weeks, but as a cut flower, they are so long-lasting.  Every bloom is intriguing.  I'm delighted that there are hundreds of seedlings emerging under the parent plants.  When I get time, I'll pot some of them to move into other shady spots that need early color.

     On Monday, which was also a cold, ugly day, I ran errands.  Got a full load of potting soil, another 200 flats, and all the supplies I'll need to make all the floral saddles to take to the cemeteries next month.  Time has evolved to the point that I am now the guardian of the family plots, even though at this point, I'm not sure exactly where they all are!  My mother and I are going to pack picnics and spend two or three days traveling around, and I'll document where my great-grandparents, grandparents, and others we want to honor are buried. 

     I spent the really crappy, cold day Tuesday seeding in the greenhouse where it was balmy.  Additional flats of cilantro, dill, and some special cucumbers were on the list, as well as cockscomb, more alpine strawberries, zinnias, arnica, tea tree, and unicorn plant.  I reseeded weld, since the first seeding with some old seed did not germinate.  And, I sowed several more flats of lettuces since we've already sold most of the first crop.  I made one flat of white hyacinth beans.  I really prefer the purple ones, but have decided I'll plant some white ones in the Moon Garden this year.  Thomas Jefferson introduced this plant to America, in his search for plants that could produce income.  Since both the beans and flowers are edible, and have excellent nutrition, and they are so easy to grow (especially in Virginia where the growing season is so long!) he was convinced it could be a cash crop. They never caught on, even though they are highly productive and, I think, tasty!  That's it for today.  Keep checking, as the weather improves, I'll write more about what we're doing here in the gardens!