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Community Corner

Bean Sprouts and Early Spring Flowers

There are more signs of spring everyday, the dogwood trees are starting to bloom along with other fruit trees. Early vegetable crops are planted and the spring bulbs are up.

The past two weeks we have been experiencing roller coaster weather. You have to be a strong and hardy plant to live in this climate. I will take you on a walk around my garden and with pictures and show you what is about to bloom and what is blooming.  I also reflect on the setbacks for my vegetable garden, and what future tasks need to be done to prepare for summer.

Every day I see more green foliage ans right now the tulips are starting to pop. The wonderful ground cover that I have in the back garden bed vinca or myrtle is in bloom. These small blue flowers are great as they are hardy and like our weather, and if you keep them watered they will spread quickly. Another bonus is they will not become invasive and strangle the bushes. I have been buying flats in stages in two years the bed should be completely covered. The hellebores or Lenten Rose are lovely. I suggest you plant these close to your house, so you can see them, as they are the first things to bloom in the spring. Unfortunately these plants are quite pricy and they take forever to grow. They come in white green and purple, and look tres chic in flower arrangements. The daffodils are pretty sad looking (I don’t think they enjoyed the recent snowstorm). My blue bells are dainty and are right next to a dogwood tree that will burst forth after a couple of nice spring days.

The vegetable garden is struggling. I did not start my lettuce and sugar snap peas as seeds. I caved in and bought flats that had already been started from Vivian Gellman on Ladue and McKnight Rd. She is known for her huge Zinnia bed that is a riot of color for us to enjoy all summer when we drive by. I untangled the sugar snaps and painstakingly fastened them with wire to the chicken wire fence. Hopefully they will adapt to the great outdoors and we will have sugar snaps for dinner. Every day the lettuce looks better and I can start to see new growth. I am going to sow arugula tomorrow to add spunk to salads, last year it grew all the way to December. So far no voles -the chicken wire is doing its job.

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Spring is here so walk through your garden everyday and watch the growing progress. Take notes of where you might want to add more spring bulbs. Get your pots ready for planting your annuals. Hook up hoses, and clean out birdbaths and order your mulch from Ladue before it runs out. Most of all enjoy this glorious time of year.

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