Trader Joe's sold me daffodils with buds so tight they looked like they'd been picked that morning. Overnight they opened fully and their yellow splash is bringing life to the apartment. The flowers, plus the sun's creeping a little closer to our lanai every day make me crave spring.
Friday, bright and balmy, I slid open the patio door and enjoyed fresh air.
It must have been at least 65 degrees.
I jumped in the car headed for Nick’s Garden Center. The pansies were calling to me from the entrance. The highest shelf on the rack boasted bright purple blooms, then a shelf of my favorite apricot color, then yellow, burgundy, and the mixed packs. They were stacked like a layer cake.
I grabbed a basket and choose a dozen healthy plants that will fill the pot on the slab outside our door that will get a couple hours of sun in another month. In the meantime, I will push the pot around to follow the light. The pansies will hold their own if I bring them in on cold nights.
An aside, a we-need-hearing-aids conversation:
Bill: Do you want me to bring in your pansies?
Me: Bring in my panties?
Bill: Pansies! It's gonna be cold tonight.
Me: Oh.
Back to the pansies. The squirrels have already dug up one plant out of the pot so it will have to be protected by bird mesh. But I’m thrilled! There is life and color outside my door.
I’m grateful I don’t live in a place like Minnesota where winter is unrelenting until May. Nope, here we know March, April and May will sprint by!
