You Know It's Spring When...

  1. The weather forecast says it's going to snow
  2. The birds have turned up the volume (see yesterday's post)
  3. The earth has a rich, damp growy smell
  4. You're already behind with your gardening jobs
  5. You've got a million seedlings to prick out and not enough pots/ compost/ labels (select which apply in your case)
  6. The roar of lawnmowers can be heard in every garden in the street (not us - we have a push/pull one)
  7. Your carefully nurtured plants aren't growing, but the weeds are
  8. You have no more space for any more seed trays anywhere, but you've still got at least 50% of your seeds left to sow
  9. The car park's full at the local garden centre - even on weekdays
  10. You bump into your neighbours for the first time in months
  11. Your cat starts chasing butterflies - for Jess it's bright yellow Brimstones
  12. The birds are pecking out the moss in your lawn
  13. You find your first slug/vine weevil grubs/aphids/add pest of your own choice
  14. You also see your first bumble bee/ frog/ ladybird/ lacewing/add beneficial garden friend of your own choice
  15. Your winter pansies are now flowering after months of looking miserable
  16. You realise you can't nag NAH to ask the neighbours to trim their conifer hedge for a few months now because there's at least 10 birds nesting in it
  17. Frank's Plants has started their spring plant sales stint (Kings Lodge School this weekend, Frogwell School next and so on...)
  18. You can stay out in the garden until teatime (aka dinner, supper, evening meal, whatever)
  19. You've mislaid at least one vital piece of equipment during the winter and you need it right now
  20. Plants start reappearing in your garden and you've no idea what they are
  21. What else can you add to the list?

Comments

  1. Hermes22 March 2009 at 11:23

    Brilliant, and so true.

    ReplyDelete
  2. CanadianGardenJoy22 March 2009 at 11:26

    VP .. we won't have all your signs until a little later girl but they all apply ! LOL
    Add .. "lists" upon lists !
    I have them in books .. on the fridge, next to the phone , .. well I think you have the idea .. next is running around in circles like a chicken without its head .. getting very anal about workmen that were supposed to show up ? .. and we had a sprinkle of snow last night .. Whhhaaaaa !

    ReplyDelete
  3. Susan Tomlinson22 March 2009 at 11:48

    A good list! Here's my addition to the list: It's windy. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Carrie22 March 2009 at 12:23

    People starting turning up at the Allotments that you haven't seen since last summer and start getting all smug that they're having to work so 'hard' with their paid handy men!

    ReplyDelete
  5. petoskystone22 March 2009 at 12:29

    in addition: i hear the local owl every night calling. the rabbits are getting bolder (during the daylight hours:) & when the local teens get dropped off you can hear the music blaring through open car windows.

    ReplyDelete
  6. HappyMouffetard22 March 2009 at 12:50

    The walk into town is accompanies by the marshmallow colours of cherries in blossom.

    You're so right about the earth having a growy smell about it - that always makes my heart leap at it being spring.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Monica the Garden Faerie22 March 2009 at 16:34

    Yep, we still have about 3 weeks to go, more for the lawn to green up.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nutty Gnome22 March 2009 at 17:50

    _ the frogs are at it like, well..frogs really!

    - the foxes are wandering around the garden during the day

    - the broken bits of plant labels give you no clue as to what on earth it is that is just coming up through the soil!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous22 March 2009 at 19:14

    So true about busy garden centres - just been to one today.
    I would add - looking at the newly tidied flower borders and thinking can I squeeze another plant in.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sol22 March 2009 at 19:15

    I second the foxes, but at night, screeching, and strangled barking. What Noise do foxes actually make? We can see their eyes shining in the dark wooded area opposite the house.

    The allotment looks like a desert scene, we have clay, so it is cracked by lck of rain and our water! Tut tut...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Helen/patientgardener22 March 2009 at 19:57

    You resent going to a garden club meeting as it means giving up one of your two afternoons in the garden

    You realise you still havent planted the plants you bought last summer

    ReplyDelete
  12. Sol22 March 2009 at 20:54

    ?question? Why has asparagus started to come up in my garden?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Unknown22 March 2009 at 21:00

    Bring it on spring!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Unknown22 March 2009 at 22:20

    Great post! Just one new addition: You know its spring when the tub its you have left in the garden over winter are full of water and are too heavy to move!

    http://ryans-garden.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  15. Victoria Summerley22 March 2009 at 23:13

    ... the stench of chicken manure comes wafting over the fence.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Juliet22 March 2009 at 23:26

    You know it's spring when ...
    ... the birds are having sex in your bird bath :o

    Re no. 12 - please can you send me some of your birds? They are clearly more refined than mine, and I have a great deal of moss.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous22 March 2009 at 23:26

    This is such a fun post and I have been thinking about it all day - love everyones additions.

    I know its Spring when I see sparrows flying around with nesting material twice the size they are.

    When I think it might be time to start painting my toenails again.
    (flip flop season)

    The seedlings take up more space in the house than the humans.

    We have a small corner of the dining table to eat on, because gardening paraphernalia is taking up the rest of the space.

    I have a pair of felcos in my pocket - oh no, wait - they are in my pocket all the time.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Mr. McGregor's Daughter22 March 2009 at 23:45

    My additions: the kids don't want to wear socks, the squirrels are holding a convention in the garden, and the village has started yard waste pickup again.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous23 March 2009 at 06:16

    That's the best list I've ever seen. I can relate. My seedlings need thinning badly. My pet peeve this time of year is the night dipping temps. The daytime fools the plants and then night dips to 33. You don't know if it's going to hit that 32 mark or not. You got to run in and out uncovering plants.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous23 March 2009 at 09:55

    I have been shocked and disgusted by the behaviour of numerous toads.
    The place has been ringing with ecstatic croaks and the shallows of the pond are teeming with writhing bodies.
    It is worse than one of Caligula's more adventurous orgies.
    It is at times like this that one really misses Mary Whitehouse and the Moral Majority.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous23 March 2009 at 09:55

    I have to add ....
    You know its spring when you get bitten by some pesky flying thing that you didn't see.
    First bite of the season - bring on the antihistamine
    :)
    K

    ReplyDelete
  22. VP23 March 2009 at 11:29

    Hi everyone - thanks for commenting, I've enjoyed reading all your additions to the list. Looking out of the window today, I should also add - the cherry blossom comes out just in time for the wind to blow it all off into street confetti!

    Hermes - thanks

    Joy - OMG how could I forget lists!

    Carrie - if only someone would come and dig my allotment for me

    Petoskystone - how true, though your last one belongs more to summer around here

    HM - see my comment about the cherries. Glad you liked my contribtion to your nominative determinism piece :)

    Monica - luckily we don't have to wait for the lawn to green up

    Nutty gnome - excellent additions. I had coffee at Threadspiders last week. As it was so warm we took it outside, accompanied by the motorbike sounds that the frogs make!

    EG - I've been eying my borders with the same speculation. They look so bare don't they and it's easy to forget what's waiting to push its nose up through the soil again!

    SOL - foxes definitely bark - we have one around here that does that on a regular basis at the moment. As for your asparagus, I've no idea, I'm assuming you didn't plant it then?

    PG - how true and more on that very topic on Wednesday!

    Flowrgirl1 - absolutely

    Ryan - welcome! :) I had exactly the same problem last week!

    Victoria - in our case that stench is masked by what the farmers are spreading on their fields currently

    Juliet - whaaaaat!!!! You'll have to wait re my birds, they've a lot of moss to get through yet

    Karen - will you be showing off said toes at some point? ;) It's not just the sparrows that are carrying stuff twice their size, all the birds are at it. We have a crow at the moment who I'm sure is trying to demolish an entire birch tree! And re your subsequent comment - ouch! Touch wood I've not had that trouble yet.

    MMD - I think my squirrels have been listening to yours as they're doing the same thing! We've just had an advert pushed through the door inviting us to put a vermin control cover on the chimney pot - our local chimney sweep is a very smart guy!

    Flowergardengirl - I'd forgotten that one - it's so easy to get caught out at this time of year isn't it? I'd add that remembering to close the lid on cold frames is needed, so your precious overwintered plants don't get hit by the overnight cold.

    James - I spluttered over my coffee when I read this. Thanks so much for your always original take on the subject :D

    ReplyDelete
  23. Anna23 March 2009 at 22:32

    Spring is when you don't have time to read the gardening mags telling you when and what to do :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. Elizabeth Musgrave24 March 2009 at 01:14

    You know it is spring when the greenhouse is so full of new seedlings that you can't possibly clear it out to do the thorough sort and clean you failed to do in the autumn.
    Every time you go out there is more emerald green on the hawthorn hedge.

    ReplyDelete
  25. The Constant Gardener24 March 2009 at 10:32

    so true, so true...

    I'd add to the list:
    - I get a silly grin on my face, all the time, even at inappropriate moments
    - my family forgets who I am
    - I start gazing wistfully out of the window when I should be writing something meaningful on my 'puter (and bopping myself over the head for sitting here procrastinating on other people's blogs instead of getting my work out of the way so I can get into the garden.... see?)
    - I start referring to the things growing in my greenhouse as my babies, causing consternation a) at the school gate and b) among my real babies

    The word verification is worierr... that's me...

    Happy Spring!

    ReplyDelete
  26. VP24 March 2009 at 19:26

    Anna - that's so true - especially after the clocks go forward!

    Elizabethm - if only I had a greenhouse, I'm sure that would be the case here too!

    CG - I've been a victim of the silly grin syndrome too. It's great isn't it?

    ReplyDelete

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