Dirty Hands...Happy Heart

I recently read an article about how dirt can make you happy. Apparently there are microbes in our soil that may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier. Gardeners inhale the microbes or can get them thru topical contact. No wonder why I like gardening so much.

Getting my dose of soil microbes 

Spring is starting here in the pacific northwest. There are days that are beautiful, warm, sunny, close to 65 degrees. Then there are days that are cold, rainy, hailing, windy and only get up to 42 degrees-however the sun manages to appear every day. At least it's not the same as the cold of winter, with it's snow, ice rain, and temperatures that didn't make it above freezing. (I have to say that even in winter we saw the sun almost every day.)

Daffodils survived the Feb snow!

But back to spring...spring where I came from in CA was short-lived. It seemed that before you knew it summer was there. Knowing that spring was short and summer was soon to come, one could start planting gardens and flowers-and they would survive. The last frost date was March 15. Things happened so fast there.

Here the last frost date is closer to the end of April or even the beginning of May in some places. And it shows in the type of weather we have. It truly is spring. It's been about 48 years since I've experienced a lasting spring and I'm really enjoying it. The daffodils bloom and last for months. All the spring bulbs erupt from their winter hiding places and last for quite some time. Trees flower and the blooms last for weeks. It's interesting to go outside each day and notice the small changes that happen in the plant kingdom. Since this is our first spring here we are constantly surprised by the bulbs that come up. I did not plant them and are surprised by their appearance, especially when I put a pot on top of one of them and it comes up around the pot. It does take some rethinking and relearning on my part to know when to plant things here. I have to curb the urge to plant summer vegetables. But outside I can plant the cooler weather crops like peas, lettuce, broccoli, brussel sprouts, nasturtiums. Inside I've started some summer vegetables: pumpkins, gourds, basil, butternut squash. Other things I've tried to start haven't worked out so well so I'll have to buy them from the nursery. The vegetable garden will have to be a different blog post.

The bulb garden Z and I planted in the fall is starting to bloom. The bulbs are beautiful and they will spread as the years go on. We will probably plant more bulbs too. I've also sowed some wildflower seeds there too so that as the bulbs fade maybe we will have some summer flowers coming up too.

The bulb planters enjoying their garden 

Crocus bulbs

Fritillaria 

Glory of the Snow

    

                 

Tulips 

Siberian Squill 

 

Grape Hyacinths 

      
Some of the many daffodils

The front yard is full of bulbs. It was one of the things that attracted me to this house. It looks like an old english garden. And I've added to it with some planters. When it rains the plants wear their water droplets like jewels that they are showing off to the world.
         

      

Here are some of the other flowers that are blooming right now. I'm not sure of all of their names.
There are rhododendrons, bleeding hearts, daffodils, camellias, lung wort, and I'm not sure what the yellow or the purple flowers are at the end.

         

      


I also have a weeping cherry tree. I've noticed that some of these trees do not bloom, I guess there are male and female trees. At first I thought I wanted to get rid of it, it was such a funny shaped tree, but I guess this is the way they are supposed to look. For the longest time I just called it an umbrella tree. The trunks can get really round and fat and the tree can stay short and squat. It's a new one to me.
       

So many pictures! And only part of the yard is in bloom. I do have 28 rose bushes and more flowers to bloom.  I'll have to post more pictures later.