Something's Peekin'! Or....Spring Has Sprung!

These little Tete-de-Tete daffodils (I've seen various spellings for this plant) are the first of their kind to bloom for me here at Cairnwood Cottage. This particular photo was taken in my "Secret Garden", which is a small hidden woodland garden just off our driveway before entering the woods.

Garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa) is the first of my spring greens to pop up. This sorrel is planted next to my asparagus patch, along with some rhubarb.




I know for sure that spring is here when I see my rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum) peeking out of the soil. First I see little pinkish-red "heads", then leaves unfurl, looking all the world like some kind of funky green brain.

And last but not least, little tooth-like daylilly (hemerocallis) "spears" claw their way towards the sun.
Yes, spring is here!

In Memory of a Best Friend

I met Crystal Snyder in my 1999 Northumberland County Penn State Master Gardener class.  We immediately hit it off, having so many similar interests.  We were close to the same age, I being 3 years older, and we nearly shared the same birthday...hers was October 9, and mine is October 7.  Our firstborn sons even share the same name, Jeremiah, and they are the same age.  Our similarities were pretty amazing, really, everything from our love of organic gardening to a similar childhood.

Crystal and I performed lots of Master Gardener duties together, went to various gardening trainings and workshops, went plant shopping together, and just had a blast whenever we'd get together.  She had a quick, contagious smile, and would do anything to help a friend or neighbor.

Tragically, Crystal became a statistic.  She was one of the many women who contracted cervical cancer due to a prescription drug her mother had taken while Crystal was still "in the oven".  She fought a long, hard battle, and confided in me of her fears of how this would all end.  Sadly, she lost her battle on October 23, 2006.  I was devastated.

Spring is a difficult time since Crystal died...I'm always thinking how much she'd be enjoying the flowers and planting her garden.  And I'm sad that I can't share my gardening joys with her, call her up and talk gardens, go to a nursery and buy plants, and do all of those things that best gardening buddies do together.

Last fall I bought some little tete-de-tete daffodil bulbs with the intention of planting them on Crystal's grave.  I thought that would be pretty cool to see a wave of those cheery little yellow guys waving in the spring breeze there, but unfortunately when I went to plant them, I couldn't find the exact spot!  I was close, but the family hadn't put a headstone up yet, so I couldn't be sure where to plant them.

So I brought them home.  I planted them around my yard in various locations.  Some by the mailbox, some in my Secret Garden, some in a flower bed in front of the house, and some by the cellar stairwell.  They're blooming now, and every time I see them I think of Crystal, and how she must be having a blast now gardening in the most incredible garden of all.