Did we just miss spring? I wonder as our timing of seasons continues to change. We still had snow and ice through the last weekend of April. For three weekends in May, the thermometer struggled to get into double digits. And last week we welcomed summer temperatures. They did not arrive for a single day, but have continued for a week.
Green leaves went from bud to full-out leaves. Dandelions spread a rug of yellow across our lawns and boulevards. The town streets are now graced with pink flowering crab apple blossoms. Lilacs are bursting out in purples and whites. My cherry bushes have already lost their blossoms.
When I began working my raised garden beds, I was surprised at how dry the soil was even 20 cm down. I should not have been surprised as the bush at our cabin crackles and breaks up on the pine needles that dropped last fall.
If we get some rain in the next few days, we will have a phenomenal blueberry crop. The bushes burst to life in the last 10 days and are filled with thousands of white blossoms. Bees and wasps have been busy pollinating those plants.
Gardeners have now decided that it is warm enough to plant gardens again. It may be later than usual. For district farmers, this sudden warming spell free of moisture is giving them all the room to plant crops of corn, soybean, wheat and oats. It could be a great year for harvests this year in the district. District greenhouse operators can finally breathe a sigh of relief. Customers are snapping up bedding flowers, tomato plants, herbs and shrubs.
Of course, with this heat, we worry about the possibility of forest fires. We are in an extreme fire watch, meaning that there cannot be any open fires. The MNR and district municipalities have already been called out to extinguish fires.
We look out of a bedroom window, and a mother robin is sitting patiently on a nest of eggs. She is patient and only takes a few moments to find food for her youngsters. In our cedar hedge, two families of grackles have nested. You know they are there when the lawn is mown. A group immediately starts angrily letting you know that you shouldn’t be waking the youngsters.
Summer has arrived in a panic. Lawns now demand cutting more than once a week. Spring passed us by.
