Garden dreams in progress

Finally, finally, FINALLY there are signs of spring in ChicagoLand.  It’s been a long, tough winter.  This post is primarily to share the eye candy coming up in my yard; it's been a delight this month to watch it begin to happen.

My potted plants have managed to survive on the back porch (which long ago was turned into an extra little room off the kitchen).  It was sometimes chilly but nobody died.  I’ve also tried to keep some sort of bloom going.  I plant a few paperwhite bulbs at a time.  And I’ve bought hyacinths from Trader Joe's.  The fragrance is so intoxicating.  There’s nothing I like better in my office to lighten the gloom of winter.  

And now, finally, my yard is beginning to wake up.  First there were the crocus: 

 Then, the delicious little blue Scilla (siberica) in the back:

And then my newly planted Fritillaria (michailovskyi).  

And then, surprisingly, the tulips.  I expect daffodils first, but not this year.  At this point the daffodils are up too, but the tulips are still ahead and will probably bloom first.  Neither is quite there yet, though:

This morning my rhododendron popped into bloom.  Last year, the tulips and daffodils were blooming first.  This year, it’s the other way around.  

Coco and I watch for flowers in other yards as we walk, and there are now spring bulbs up everywhere.  My next door neighbor’s front is gorgeous, so I can enjoy that until my own blooms appear.

Half of the hyacinths, the ones I planted by the back steps, are coming up (they were a mixture; they’re not all supposed to be pink!  But I guess I don’t really care as long as they smell good).  The ones planted close to the patio have not appeared.  It’s probably colder over there.  I shall sit on the bottom step, though, and drink in that fragrance.  

It’s time – past time – to get going on the spring work of the garden.  The soil is warming up very slowly, but it might be OK to plant snow peas, spinach, lettuce, and other early vegetables.  I did not start tomatoes or peppers from seed this year, so will need to buy plants from my CSA farmer or a farmer’s market.  But at the rate we’re going, it won’t be time to put those plants outside until June.  

That’s OK.  Every day in the garden is a good one.  I will enjoy both the work and the results in my yard.  I spent 16 years in Maryland turning my lot into something beautiful.  Now I’m starting over with a new project.  It’s exciting.

Settling In

Chicago is finally lurching drunkenly into spring.  I hope.  This evening I went on a great bike ride with the Oak Park Cycle Club.  Only a few days ago I walked Leo in my winter coat, but tonight I was in shirtsleeves.   And I admit, our walks have shown me more and more signs of the year turning – more green, plants coming up, even a few flowers in bloom, finally, this week. 

This weird year not withstanding, I was generally enthusiastically into spring by this time during the years I lived in Maryland.  I’ve always said spring would be the one time I really missed the mid-Atlantic.  By the end of the 1st week of March there were almost always some blooms out – crocus, forsythia, redbud.  My daily walks became treasure hunts.  It was wonderful.

But then I abandoned Maryland and came to the frigid Midwest.  Why?  I wanted to start anew, but could have gone anywhere.  I chose Chicago because of my [then] infant nephew and because some instinct told me this place would offer me everything I needed to call it home.  On both counts, I have not been disappointed.

My first months, here-and-not-here, were difficult, to say the least.  Working far too many hours, camping at my brother’s, trying to manage and sell a home from 700 miles away.  I had few bright spots except the satisfaction of working directly with some wonderful Chicago families in one of my roles, and the precious hours with little Sam and his older half-sister.  I didn’t feel I had time to find and create a community of my own, either personally or professionally.

In the months since my employer and I went our separate ways, that has been remedied.  My instincts were right about Chicago: I feel more settled personally here than I ever have, anywhere I have lived.  That’s not to say I regret any of my other sojourns, but I’m here to stay.  The communities I’ve joined – especially UTUUC, the Cycle Club,  and Sing to Live Community Chorus – are home for me now. 

Professionally, I have been welcomed by fellow geeks in a big way.  There’s just a difference in the way people behave when they gather here, a sense of community that I never saw in my old professional landscape.  I really like the way organizations make it a point to meet both in the Loop and in the suburbs – as if to say, all of ChicagoLand is valuable.  I have not seen much “us vs them”, and I like that much better.  (That said, I am personally much happier in the Loop and would rather take the L there than drive to a suburban location.  But that’s just me.)  I like the many folks who freely share experience and information.  That wasn’t nonexistent in the mid-Atlantic, but it was far more rare than it is here.  Between the community and the BVA (see my last post), I feel almost settled here professionally, as well.  Just one rather important component of that to go. 

The warming weather has made me cheat some and get out for solo afternoon bike rides.  It feels good to be on my ancient cycle again, and sometimes the job search gets kind of old.  I love meeting and talking with people, but I could do without the rest of the drill.  I sure hope I meet and talk with someone who says “we’ve been looking for you” very soon.   I won’t even complain when my rides are confined to evenings and weekends. 

On to April.