Sunday, March 11, 2012

Is it spring?


An unusually warm day in March, and the daffodils at the West 81st Street entrance to Central Park were glorious...


The crocuses luxuriant.


And The Ramble resolutely tight-lipped about spring. The green spikes are field garlic, but not fat enough here for me to bother about.


But what is that, above? I'd like to know...


My red-tipped knotweed shoots. How many days before harvest? Million dollar question. Ive never seen them this young and don't know how long it takes for them to reach 12" from this stage, with fluctuating temperatures. Late this coming week, perhaps. It has dipped below freezing, since.


This very early azalea had suffered from frost-bite, I think. The blooms had wilted strangely on their slender branches. 


Cornelian cherry - actually a dogwood, Cornus mas.


And sweet, lemony, straggly winter honey suckle, Lonicera fragrantissima.


Above, at the West 69th Street entrance, a gorgeous witch hazel, and many hellebores.





Almost back down at Columbus Circle, a strangely deserted lawn on a day when the whole park was dotted with happy people soaking up the soft weather. It is still fenced off for rehabilitation (should we fence ourselves off, occasionally? I think so).


21'Celsius. 


I went home carrying  a picnic bought at Wholefoods at Columbus Circle to eat on the roof in Brooklyn (I had been looking for some copies Edible Manhattan so that I could read my knotweed story in print, but they don't carry it...?). It was a holiday. The weather so lovely that no one could possibly be expected to behave themselves in a sensible domestic manner.

And spring is not here, yet.

5 comments:

  1. Thank-you for giving me a glimpse into New York. I found you in Martha Stewart and enjoyed your blog. I am on the other side of country. I felt connected when I saw your picture of the hellebores. I have them next to my front door.

    ReplyDelete
  2. On Thursday we went to the 9-11 Memorial: though the high temps were great, it was quite windy in the area, though actually at the Memorial not very windy. But nothing looked "springy" there yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 70°? Awesome for you. It's spring here too, with a high of 63° this past week. Ever the pessimist, I know we're still open to getting dumped on with multiple feet of snow. It's happened in March in the past. I'll know we're safe in late April! I, too, saw your photo in MS Living. I first saw the patio shot from above and said to my wife, "I know that garden!"

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the trip around your part of New York. It's on my list of things I want to do in this life.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think it will be as weird a spring as the winter was. It's definitely spring here today - daffs, crocus, forsythia, and even Pulmonaria Cevennensis.

    If we don't lose everything to a "seasonable" freeze, it will be a gorgeous, if early, display. The next three weeks will be interesting.

    ReplyDelete

Comments on posts older than 48 hours are moderated (for spam control) . Yours will be seen! Unless you are a troll. Serial trollers are banned.