Groundhog Day

Today was the 127th year of Groundhog day. The celebration and honored groundhog lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania and they had a huge celebration this morning–the largest crowd ever. He did not see his shadow, so we are in for an early spring. Today was the largest gathering to watch Phil make his prediction. You can watch what happened at: http://www.visitpa.com/groundhog-day-live-stream These people take this groundhog stuff pretty seriously and the president of the group actually can talk to the groundhog!

Here in Arkansas, if you have been cooped up inside all winter, you better take a break and go investigate in your yard. In spite of all the cool weather, we are jumping into spring on the same schedule as last year, when we had NO winter. Not only are we seeing daffodils in bloom, I got a picture today from a friend whose tulips are already in bloom–that is ahead of last year! My crocus are blooming and I have bulb foliage up, but no other blooms. Daffodils are in bloom in many yards, and I have seen a bud on my hyacinth, but no color yet. The hellebores are simply gorgeous with all 3 of my varieties in full bloom. The last of the three to bloom is the Pink , and it is covered in buds and has the first open bloom. These plants give a lot of color in the shade in a season when we need color. For those of you plagued by deer, they are poisonous, so the deer won’t touch them. My Japonica camellia has its first open bloom, and the sasanquas are still blooming, so camellias are another excellent way to add color to the winter landscape.
In the vegetable garden, I have new side shoots on the broccoli which I can harvest this week, and I still have kale coming on. The celery is doing well but laying a little flat in the garden. It got quite warm today and was absolutely gorgeous outside, so plenty to do outside.