A Hint of Spring

Hi! Aren't you all just so ready for some springtime?

Even a January thaw would be nice, hmmm?

Knowing how bleak January at the beach can be, I always plan ahead and stock up on Paperwhite Narcissus when the bulbs appear in the garden stores each fall.

I don't like to use them for Christmas, so dainty! They'd get lost in the shuffle of gingerbread and candy canes...

This year I hid the bulbs in a small Shaker cabinet that is just inside my front door (a cold spot).This cabinet stores binoculars---- and sunglasses, sunhats, and sunscreen in the summer; mittens, warm knitted hats and rocksalt in the winter.

Usually I begin "forcing" them this MLK weekend, a date when I am pretty sure [or at least hopeful?] the Christmas stuff will be put away for another year....

But this year, right after New Years, when I opened the drawer to desperately look for mittens and earmuffs, I saw the bulbs were quite green and growing in their little dark drawer.

I put them in old transferware cups and pitchers...anchored with white beach pebbles and sea glass. Add a litle water now and then....

They grew so fast! They want spring to come early too...see how enthusiastic the tiny bulbs are?

I just love how they make me think of spring in deepest darkest January...

Next I'll have to find some nice branches to force. For more on more on forcing bulbs and branches, here is last year's post.

What do you do for a hint of spring?

love,


                     lizzy

gone to the beach....