Ah, March…the third month of the year…how she teases us with the promise of Spring!!  However, here in north-central Connecticut, March is a fickle trickster.  We have seen our hugest snowstorms during this month.  I remember a gigantic blizzard back in 1978 when my kids were little.  Their bus didn’t arrive until 5:00 in the evening and it was snowing so hard that I couldn’t see my neighbor’s house across the driveway!  The kids and I spent the night alone, hoping that the power wouldn’t go out, because my husband was stranded in Hartford.

The governor closed all the roads that afternoon and the state of Connecticut was officially shut down.  I believe it was the same March that the roof of the Hartford Civic Center collapsed from the weight of the heavy, melting snow just hours after a huge event that thousands of people attended.  How blessed we were that all those folks were home before the roof tumbled down.

Poor Man’s Fertilizer

I heard Garrison Keillor once say that the reason we have March is to show people who don’t drink what a hangover feels like!  Just the other day, it was 60 degrees here and today it is 33 degrees and snowing really hard outside my windows.  It is a very pure and beautiful and fluffy type of snow that is not accumulating much on the pavement, just on the gardens and grassy surfaces.  This late season snow used to be called ‘poor man’s fertilizer’ because it is full of nitrogen and will really help to green things up when it melts.  It also helps to melt all the rabbit droppings that left behind by those little critters all winter long…another ‘poor man’s fertilizer!’

Returning to the Rose Gardens

So, now we will wait for this latest snowfall to melt.  And, then muddy season really begins!  The days are longer and this weekend we spring the clocks forward.  The sun is marching to the north a little further every day and the first day of Spring is just around the corner.  Have you ordered any new roses for your garden this year?  A favorite pastime of mine is looking through catalogs and dreaming where I will plant things.  My husband and I moved to our location in Suffield, Connecticut four years ago and had help moving our roses here from Windsor.  I will be sharing all kinds of pictures and ideas with you about new practices in my gardens.

I used to only plant roses with roses, but over the past few years, I have made some changes.  Our new home is a Queen Anne Victorian built in 1900 and the house is very tall!  Three years ago, I planted Old Farmhouse Hollyhocks (true perennials) up against the house because they attain great height and are the perfect Victorian flowers…and they remind me of my grandmother.  They make a lovely backdrop for my roses.  Planted here and there among the roses are delphiniums in every shade of blue as well as rose and white.  The effect is pretty breathtaking and I just love it.  So do my visitors who come for rose tours all summer.

Just a Little Longer…

So, I don’t mind this lovely spring snow that is falling this March.  My husband is building a warm fire in the fireplace and we have some more relaxation time before I begin to open the gardens.  I love working in my gardens, but when my roses are resting it is also my rest time.  Winter is a great planning time, a great reading time, and a great dreaming time.  I am happy to be back at PlantersPlace to share my thoughts with all of you and my love of roses and gardening, as well.  Till next time, enjoy the rest of your winter’s rest, too!