It’s been a very interesting spring. Some things are early, others are late, and a few are acting out of character.
Most of my daylily plants are bigger and more robust than they were at this time last year, but a handful of them have been sending up teeny tiny shoots that grow v e r y  s l o w l y. Other local daylily growers have noticed the same problem in their gardens. Weird!
The mosquitoes are also getting an early start on the season. I can usually do all my spring planting without having to swat and yelp and wildly wave my arms, but by the 3rd day of my plant-a-thon last week, the biting insects had awakened and all of them were trying to eat me alive. I have so many bug bites on my arms right now that I look like a finalist on Survivor.
My Siberian bugloss (pictured above) is doing the opposite of the burgeoning daylilies and is blooming about 4 weeks later than normal. And while my verbascum (pictured below) was almost 4 feet tall and in full bloom at this time last year, its progress so far consists of a flat rosette of leaves.
The migrating birds were also no-shows for me this spring. I saw Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings, but I haven’t seen a single warbler or my beloved Scarlet Tanagers. The leaves on the oaks have fully unfurled so seeing the birds now is quite difficult and photographing them is nearly impossible. If they were flying above me while I planted my flowers, I didn’t see them or hear them.
Last year I didn’t lose a single perennial over winter, but this year I lost several butterfly bushes, some penstemons, some coral bells and most of my new asiatic lilies. In the case of the lilies, I’m not sure if I should blame winter or rodents.
Speaking of rodents, in the most shocking twist of spring, they did not behead a single tulip this year. That’s never happened.
I would love to think they’ve had a change of heart, but I fear they are lulling me into ordering even more bulbs for the big feast they plan to have next spring.